P. v. Pak CA3
While his young neighbor walked home from school, defendant Lourth Pak, an admitted former gang member, confronted him about the color (red) of his jacket. During the course of a disputed interaction between defendant and the victim, defendant hit the victim and also took his jacket. A jury found him guilty of robbery and inflicting corporal injury on a child (Pen. Code, §§ 211, 273d, subd. (a)), and found that he had committed both offenses for the benefit of a criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(1)). Although defendant was accused of burning the jacket, the jury acquitted him of arson. (§ 451, subd. (d).) The trial court sentenced defendant to five years in state prison. On appeal, defendant contends the trial court had a duty to instruct the jury sua sponte on self-defense with respect to the corporal injury charge, and that the failure to give the instruction violated his Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
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