People v. Lee

In this case, involving charges of attempted murder and robbery, the jury received contradictory, and partially inaccurate, instructions regarding the element of specific intent to kill required to sustain a verdict of attempted murder. We granted review to settle some uncertainties regarding the appropriate review standard to be used in determining whether such an error is prejudicial. As will appear, we conclude that the appropriate standard is the “harmless beyond a reasonable doubt” test for federal constitutional errors. (See Chapman v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 18, 21 [ 17 L.Ed.2d 705, 709 , 87 S.Ct. 824 , 24 A.L.R.3d 1065 ].) Applying that test here, we also conclude beyond a reasonable doubt the jury would not have reached a more favorable verdict had it been properly instructed.

I. The Facts

The uncontradicted facts are as follows: Defendant approached Janice Banks, who was waiting in her car in a parking lot. He displayed a gun and ordered her to start the car and exit from it. Banks’s purse remained on the car seat. Defendant drove the car away, but was eventually pursued by a patrol car driven by officers alerted by victim Banks. Officer Harris spotted the…