People v. Barker

I concur in the result. However, I disagree with the position of the *711majority with respect to the Landrum1 decision. The defendant is entitled to have the jury specifically instructed that she had the right to defend herself from being raped by using force, including deadly force.

The standard instruction on self defense informs jurors that deadly force may be used when one is "in danger of being killed or receiving great bodily harm.” It leaves the door open for a juror to decide that forcible rape in a given case would have caused neither death nor great bodily harm. The juror could then…