Kimbrel

Defendant appeals from a conviction of assault with a deadly weapon, the use of a “whip cord.” (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a).) Noting that the trial court instructed the jury that a “deadly weapon” was “any object, instrument, or weapon which is used in such a manner as to be capable of producing, and likely to produce, death or great bodily injury” (italics added) he contends that the court erred in not defining “great bodily injury” sua sponte. We affirm the judgment.

Facts

Paul Frasier said he encountered defendant on the afternoon of August 8, 1978, when he rode his motorcycle into the parking lot at Vista Point on Folsom Dam. He waved at him, though they were not acquainted, so he stopped to talk. About 20 minutes later, Frasier noticed two people he thought he knew passing by on a motorcycle and he waved. Defendant asked him if he was acquainted with the two and when Frasier replied that he was, defendant lashed him once about the head with a six-foot-long whip. The lash landed across his face, biting into his cheek, eye and nose, tearing the skin and leaving him with a black eye. When Frasier asked why he had hit him, defendant replied that the people on the…