People v. Garcia

In People v. Garcia, 826 P.2d 1259 (Colo. 1992), the supreme court determined that the trial court correctly ruled the defendant, who was convicted of second-degree murder, was not entitled to a lesser non-included heat of passion manslaughter instruction. The defendant had first told the police that an intruder had stabbed his girlfriend. Later, in a subsequent statement, he confessed that he inadvertently stabbed her while trying to kill himself. At trial, the theory of defense was that an intruder had stabbed the defendant's girlfriend, and that his second statement to the police was untrue. People v. Garcia, supra. The court found that the only evidentiary support for a heat of passion manslaughter instruction was the defendant's second statement to police, which the defendant had testified was a fabrication. The court found that the defendant's testimony was a binding judicial admission and, therefore, he could not "rely on a statement that he has, under oath, declared to be false." People v. Garcia, supra, 826 P.2d at 1263.