Opinion ID: 1199062
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Trial Court's Refusal to Give Instructions on Manslaughter

Text: (9) The trial court instructed the jury on first and second degree murder. It refused to give defendant's proposed instructions on voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, on the ground there was no factual basis to justify such instructions. Defendant complains that the court's refusal was erroneous for two reasons. First, defendant argues that the jury could have found him guilty of involuntary misdemeanor manslaughter, based on misdemeanor child endangerment, if it concluded that he had failed to intercede in Sandra B.'s beating of James or that he had failed to exercise due caution in disciplining James. Second, defendant asserts that the jury could have found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter because the defense testimony regarding defendant's taking of amphetamines at the time of the offense, his low IQ, and his explosive personality disorder provided a basis for the jury to determine that he did not possess the mental state required for murder. Defendant's arguments assume either that he was not the actual killer of James or that he did not have the intent to kill. Because a trial court's failure to instruct on a lesser included offense is not prejudicial if, as here, the jury necessarily resolved the factual question adversely to the defendant under other instructions ( People v. Turner (1990) 50 Cal.3d 668, 690-691 [268 Cal. Rptr. 706, 789 P.2d 887]; People v. Sedeno (1974) 10 Cal.3d 703, 721 [112 Cal. Rptr. 1, 518 P.2d 913]), we need not decide whether in this case the evidence required the giving of instructions on manslaughter. Here, the trial court instructed the jury that, before it could find the special circumstance of torture murder to be true, it had to decide that defendant was the actual killer (see People v. Ross (1979) 92 Cal. App.3d 391, 403 [154 Cal. Rptr. 783]; but see § 190.2, subd. (c)) and that he had the intent to kill (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(18); People v. Davenport, supra, 41 Cal.3d at p. 271). When the jury found this special circumstance allegation to be true, it necessarily resolved against defendant the factual questions on manslaughter. [6]