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300.8 Failure To Instruct On Lesser Included Offense In Capital Case

    300.8.1 Constitutional Claims: 8th Amendment Requires Lesser Included Offense In Capital Case

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 VOLUME 16 - CHAPTER 300

PRACTICE NOTE: In a capital trial, failure to instruct on a noncapital lesser included offense may violate the due process clause and the 5th Amendment. (Beck v. Alabama (1980) 447 US 625, 633-38 [100 SCt 2382; 65 LEd2d 392]; Vickers v. Ricketts (9th Cir. 1986) 798 F2d 369, 371; see also Hopper v. Evans (1982) 456 US 605, 611 [102 SCt 2049; 72 LEd2d 367]; Schad v. Arizona (1991) 501 US 624, 645 [111 SCt 2491; 115 LEd2d 555] [under the circumstances of this case, instruction on second degree murder provided a sufficient "third option" to withstand a Beck challenge to the trial court's refusal to instruct on other lesser offenses]; People v. Dennis (CA 1998) 17 C4th 468, 502-508 [71 CR2d 680].)

    For purposes of appellate review, a capital trial is one in which the defendant was actually sentenced to death. (See Turner v. Marshall (9th Cir. 1995) 63 F3d 807, 818-19 [discussing split in circuits as to whether failure to instruct on a lesser included offense in a noncapital case violates due process under Beck v. Alabama (1980) 447 US 625 [100 SCt 2382; 65 LEd2d 392].)

See Capital Punishment Handbook [3.5.3 a. Lesser-Included Offense Instructions: General Principles And Authorities].