“[T]he doctrine of self-defense is available to insulate one from criminal responsibility where his act, justifiably in self-defense, inadvertently results in the injury of an innocent bystander.”
How later courts described this case
- “[T]he doctrine of self-defense is available to insulate one from criminal responsibility where his act, justifiably in self-defense, inadvertently results in the injury of an innocent bystander.”
- privilege extended to voluntary manslaughter, an intentional crime but without malice
- defense to criminal charge
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
REYNOSO, J.
I dissent. The majority correctly conclude that the doctrine of “transferred self-defense” is the law in California. Their further conclusion that the court had no sua sponte duty to instruct is unconvincing. It is understandable that the trial court did not properly instruct; after all, it is by this opinion that we enunciate applicable law. Nonetheless, the trial court did not properly instruct, and, as I read our state’s decisional law, we must reverse.
The gravamen of the defense was the “rape trauma syndrome” caused by a gang rape. The record discloses the dehumanizing ordeal defendant Mathews experienced. On the day of the rape she had accompanied Ghormley to his home. Once there, Ghormley and two of his friends forced Mathews to disrobe. She begged Ghormley, a person in whom she had had confidence, not to permit such acts. His response was to laugh; the response of one of his friends was to strike her in the mouth. During the trauma, lasting approximately six and one-half hours, defendant’s life was threatened; she was forced to perform acts of oral copulation; she was sodomized; and acts of sexual intercourse were performed against her will. The three men participated. At the end, she was deposited on the street near her home. When a friend took her home, she was hysterical and confused; she was vomiting; and she was suffering from a swollen lip and jaw. Some weeks later, after the rape, defendant saw Ghormley, one of the rapists. The continuing “rape trauma syndrome” caused by the gang rape was of such intensity she had an overwhelming fear. Believing that Ghormley was armed and fearing for her life, she shot at him. By misfortune she hit and killed Silva, an innocent party.
Several instructions were read to the jury relating to self-defense. But did the court’s self-defense instructions give clear guidance to the jury that an act of self-defense as to Ghormley was also self-defense as to Silva (by the process of transferred self-defense)? I believe not. 1
*1029 Those instructions, absent an instruction on transferred self-defense, left the jury without guidance. They were confusing, if not misleading. CALJIC No. 5.13, for example, seems to proscribe the application of the transferred self-defense doctrine. It reads:
“Homicide is justifiable and not unlawful when committed by any person in the defense of herself if a reasonable person in a like situation would believe that the person killed intended to commit a forcible and atrocious crime and that there was imminent danger of such crime being accomplished. A person may act upon appearances whether such danger is real or merely apparent.” (Italics added.) The instruction refers to “the person killed” as the one who intended to commit a crime against the person acting in self-defense.
I turn to the question of whether the trial court had a sua sponte duty to instruct. The appropriate test is outlined in People v. Sedeno (1974) 10 Cal.3d 703 [ 112 Cal.Rptr. 1 , 518 P.2d 913 ]. The rule is: the trial court must instruct on general principles of law relevant to the issues raised by the evidence. This includes those principles closely and openly connected with the facts before the court which are necessary for the jury’s understanding of the case. (People v. Sedeno, supra, 10 Cal.3d at p. 715 .) The defense theory was that defendant Mathews acted in self-defense and mistakenly shot Silva. While the emphasis at trial was placed on the “rape trauma syndrome,” a partial defense based on diminished capacity, self-defense was clearly a principle defense. Such a defense was “closely and openly” connected with the facts of the case. The transferred intent instruction was necessary for the jury’s understanding of the case; absent the appropriate instruction, the jury could not evaluate self-defense as it applied to Silva, the nonaggressor. The facts of this case and the theory of defense appear to fall squarely within the Sedeño teachings. Accordingly, I would reverse.
Appellant’s petition for a hearing by the Supreme Court was denied June 27, 1979.
Among the instructions given were (1) a modified CALJIC No. 5.12 (Justifiable Homicide in Self-Defense); (2) a modified CALJIC No. 5.15 (1977 rev.) dealing with the *1029 prosecutor’s burden in a justifiable homicide defense; (3) a modified CALJIC No. 5.13 (1974 rev.) dealing with Justifiable Homicide — Lawful Defense of Self or Another; (4) modified CALJIC No. 5.16 (Forcible and Atrocious Crime — Defined): (5) modified CALJIC No. 5.50 (Self-Defense, Assailed Person Need Not Retreat); and (6) CALJIC No. 5.55 (Pleas of Self-Defense May Not Be Contrived).