People v. Chestra

Defendant was convicted of first degree murder and the jury found defendant personally and intentionally discharged a firearm causing death. In the published portion of the opinion, the court discussed why any error in failing to instruct on voluntary manslaughter was harmless. The court explained that under no view of the evidence was defendant guilty of only voluntary manslaughter. In this case, defendant's trial testimony would not permit a jury composed of reasonable persons to conclude he was guilty of voluntary manslaughter but not murder, nor would his confession to the detectives, which was plainly inconsistent with his trial testimony and provided no support for a lesser included offense verdict on the murder charge. The court modified the judgment to impose a $300 parole revocation restitution fine, and affirmed in all other respects. View "People v. Chestra" on Justia Law