People v. Wright

*966Opinion

BROWN, J.

In re Christian S. (1994) 7 Cal.4th 768 [30 Cal.Rptr.2d 33, 872 P.2d 574] (Christian S.), we reaffirmed that an actual, though unreasonable, belief in the need to defend oneself from an imminent threat of death or great bodily injury negates the malice element of murder, reducing the offense to manslaughter. (See also People v. Flannel (1979) 25 Cal.3d 668, 674 [160 Cal.Rptr. 84, 603 P.2d 1].) We granted review in this case to consider whether to extend this “doctrine of imperfect self-defense” (Christian S., at p. 771) to a case in which the defendant’s actual, though…