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People v. Barton12/18/1995
described as a "medium-weight pull." Because the gun was a "single action" pistol, it was more likely to discharge accidentally than a "double action" pistol, as the former will fire when the trigger has traveled a shorter distance. Defense expert Richard Whalley, a criminalist and former head of the San Diego Police Department's Crime Laboratory, testified that the trigger on double-action guns must generally travel about 2 centimeters (20 millimeters) for the gun to discharge, while defendant's single-action gun would discharge when the trigger traveled only one millimeter, a factor that Whalley considered "very significant" in assessing the likelihood that the fatal bullet that killed Sanchez was discharged accidentally.
In the opinion of defense witness Kevin Gilmartin, a psychiatrist, defendant responded to Sanchez's sudden movement by firing reflexively, "in fear of his life." Another defense witness, psychiatrist Haig Koshkarian, explained that persons who perceive themselves to be in great danger enter a "fight or flight state" in which they react reflexively to any sudden movement or sound.
Defendant also presented character evidence of his dependability, honesty, and lack of ethnic or racial bias, and of Sanchez's reputation for violence.
During a conference on proposed jury instructions, defense counsel asked the trial court not to instruct on voluntary manslaughter ( § 192, subd. (a)) as a lesser offense included in the crime of murder. He contended that since voluntary manslaughter requires an intent to kill, it was inconsistent with the defense theory that the killing of Sanchez was accidental. The prosecutor asked the court to give the instruction, stating: "Whether or not it's [a verdict] that I would be urging the jury to reach, I certainly believe it's one they could arrive at based on the state of the evidence in this case." Over defendant's objection, the trial court instructed the jury that it should convict defendant of the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter if it found either that the killing occurred in a sudden quarrel or heat of passion, or that defendant killed Sanchez in the honest but unreasonable belief that he had to defend himself against imminent peril to life or a threat of great bodily injury. The jury acquitted defendant of murder, but convicted him of voluntary manslaughter.
Defendant appealed, arguing that the evidence at trial did not support an instruction on voluntary manslaughter, and that the trial court should not have given the instruction over his objection. The Court of Appeal disagreed. It held that a trial court must instruct on every lesser offense included within the charged offense, if supported by the evidence, even when a defendant objects to the instruction as being inconsistent with the defendant's theory of the case. The Court of Appeal concluded that in this case the evidence presented at trial supported a conviction for voluntary manslaughter, and that therefore an instruction on that crime was proper. But the Court of Appeal also pointed out that certain decisions of this court had given rise to confusion regarding the scope of a trial court's relatively broad duty to instruct on lesser included offenses, and its somewhat more limited duty to instruct on possible defenses to the crime charged. To resolve this confusion, we granted defendant's petition for review.
II
In People v. Sedeno (1974) 10 Cal. 3d 703, 112 Cal. Rptr. 1, 518 P.2d 913 (hereafter Sedeno), we explained when a trial court must instruct on lesser included offenses. There, the defendant was charged with murder for shooting a police officer with the o
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