Robinson

Defendant was found guilty after bifurcated jury trial of first degree murder, attempted murder, attempted robbery and burglary, and was found to have personally used a firearm during the commission of each offense. He was thereafter found to have been sane during the commission of the offenses. Defendant admitted three prior convictions within the meaning of the three strikes law. He was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 22 years.

In the published portion of this appeal we conclude that a special instruction based on Penal Code section 25.5 should not have been given during the sanity phase of the trial. In relevant part, section 25.5 references findings of insanity based solely on the abuse of intoxicating substances. Defendant did not rely on his long-term substance abuse and possible resulting mental damage or disorder as the sole cause of his insanity. Therefore, section 25.5 had no application to the instant case and for this reason the special instruction should have been refused. However, we find the error to be harmless; it is not reasonably probable the jury would have returned a more favorable verdict had the instruction been refused. In the unpublished…