Opinion ID: 1379871
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Refused instruction on possession of stolen property.

Text: Lord's seventh assignment of error regarding the guilt phase concerns a jury instruction refused by the district court. The district court refused to grant the defense request for an instruction on possession of stolen property, namely the victim's truck. Lord argues that the refusal constituted error under this court's holding in Moore v. State, 105 Nev. 378, 776 P.2d 1235 (1989). In capital cases, instructions on lesser included offenses are constitutionally required if requested by the defense. Beck v. Alabama, 447 U.S. 625, 638, 100 S.Ct. 2382, 2390, 65 L.Ed.2d 392 (1979). In Moore, adopting People v. Geiger, 674 P.2d 1303 (Cal.1984), this court went one step further by holding that, in some circumstances, a court must grant instructions even for lesser related offenses, i.e., offenses which are related to the principal offense but are not lesser included offenses of the principal offense. Specifically, this court stated: [A] defendant has no general right to have the jury presented with a shopping list of alternatives to the crimes charged by the prosecution. However, we hold that the jury should receive instruction on a lesser-related offense when three conditions are satisfied: (1) the lesser offense is closely related to the offense charged; (2) defendant's theory of defense is consistent with a conviction for the [lesser] related offense; and (3) evidence of the lesser offense exists. Moore, 105 Nev. at 383, 776 P.2d at 1238-39 (citation omitted). Lord has satisfied the first two requirements under Moore. First, the lesser related offense of possession of stolen property is closely related to the principal charge of robbery with a deadly weapon. The strongest evidence of robbery was the taking of the truck and the truck is also the property involved in possession of stolen property. See also People v. Kamin, 405 Mich. 482, 275 N.W.2d 777 (1979) (defendant was charged with robbery; court held that instruction on lesser offense of larceny from the person was required). Second, Lord's theory of defense was consistent with a conviction for possession of stolen property. In closing argument, defense counsel argued that Lord could have received the truck from another person who stole it after committing the actual murder. Defense counsel also argued that, after committing the murder, McDougal could have picked up Lord hitchhiking. The third and closest question is whether there was sufficient evidence of the crime of possession of stolen property to warrant this instruction. Before a lesser, non-included offense instruction may be given to the jury, there must be some evidence in the record to rationally support a conviction on the lesser offense. People v. Early, 692 P.2d 1116, 1120 (Colo.App. 1984) (citation omitted). Defense counsel did not specify to the court exactly which statute he was referring to in support of this instruction. The State contends that the intended statute was NRS 205.2715, which proscribes the unlawful taking of a motor vehicle. If this was the intended statute, the evidence does not support an instruction on this offense. This statute concerns a more minor crime of joyriding, i.e., the unconsented use of another's car  without the intent to permanently deprive. NRS 205.2715. Here, there is no evidence at all that Lord intended to return this vehicle. The evidence shows an attempt to drive away from Nevada; Lord abandoned the vehicle only because Mr. Young forced him to. Instead of NRS 205.2715, it seems clear that the statute defense counsel was referring to was NRS 205.275, which proscribes receiving, possessing or withholding stolen goods. As Lord points out, there is some evidence to support a conviction on this crime: (1) Lord was seen driving a stolen truck; and (2) it was McDougal who had the ring, indicating possibly that Lord received control of the truck from McDougal only after McDougal or someone else robbed the victim. On the other hand, NRS 205.275 requires proof that the person received stolen property, that the person knew or reasonably should have known that the property was stolen, and that the person was acting for his own gain. In requesting this instruction, the defense theory was that Lord had nothing to do with the robbery, the murder, or the initial theft of the truck. The theory was that he received the truck sometime after the murder, robbery and initial theft. Yet Lord called no witnesses in his defense in this case. Assuming that Lord had nothing to do with the murder, there is no direct evidence at all in the record that he had received the truck from someone else, that he knew or should have known it was stolen, or that he had received the truck for his own personal gain. The blood stains in the front cab of the truck were not at all obvious. Thus, an innocent passenger taking turns driving would not necessarily know it was a stolen vehicle. Although this is a close question, we conclude that the district court did not err in refusing this instruction. See Kamin, 275 N.W.2d 777, (it was not error for the court to refuse to give burglary defendant an instruction on receiving stolen property, because there was no evidence in the record as to the value of the property, an essential element of the crime); cf. Moore, 105 Nev. 378, 776 P.2d 1235, (James Mayfield was charged with murder and requested an instruction to cover the possibility that he was merely an accessory after the fact; there was considerable evidence indicating that Mayfield was not present until sometime after the initial attack and that the victim could well have been dead before Mayfield arrived to help dispose of the body; in short, there was far more evidence than in the present case to support the instruction).