Opinion ID: 867277
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Robbery lesser-included offense instruction

Text: ¶ 33 Hargrave next argues that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury on the lesser-included offense of robbery. A lesser-included offense instruction must be given, if requested, if the jury could find that (1) the state failed to prove an element of the greater offense, and (2) the evidence is sufficient to support a conviction on the lesser offense. State v. Wall, 212 Ariz. 1, 4 ¶ 18, 126 P.3d 148, 151 (2006); cf. State v. Schad, 163 Ariz. 411, 417, 788 P.2d 1162, 1168 (1989) (not requiring lesser-included offense instruction for robbery serving as the predicate for felony murder in a capital case). With Hargrave's consent, the trial judge instructed the jury on armed robbery and theft, but not simple robbery. Because Hargrave requested a robbery instruction, we review the trial court's refusal to give one for abuse of discretion. State v. Bolton, 182 Ariz. 290, 309, 896 P.2d 830, 849 (1995). ¶ 34 A defendant commits robbery if in the course of taking any property of another from his person or immediate presence and against his will, such person threatens or uses force against any person with intent either to coerce surrender of property or to prevent resistance to such person taking or retaining property. A.R.S. § 13-1902(A) (2010). Armed robbery includes all these elements, and also requires that the defendant be armed with a deadly weapon or a simulated deadly weapon. A.R.S. § 13-1904(A)(1) (2010). ¶ 35 When the defendant is charged as an accomplice, we look to the accomplice's intent to aid the main actor. Wall, 212 Ariz. at 4-5 ¶ 20, 126 P.3d at 151-52. Hargrave argues that the jurors could have found that he did not intend to assist in an armed robbery because he did not know that Boggs planned to carry a gun. The evidence shows, however, that Hargrave not only watched the victims while an armed Boggs obtained money from the cash registers, but also helped move the victims to the freezer and fired the murder weapon. Although Hargrave did not carry his own weapon during the robbery, he assisted Boggs in committing the armed robbery knowing that Boggs possessed a weapon, and he held the weapon and fired it. ¶ 36 Hargrave requested that the court give a lesser-included offense instruction either on robbery or theft, noting that, if the court were to give only one, he preferred an instruction on theft. The trial court gave a theft instruction, based on Hargrave's claim that he and Boggs intended to steal money from the restaurant while Hargrave distracted the employees. If, however, the jury found that more than a theft occurred and that the robbery element of force or threat was proven, a rational juror could not have found that the State failed to prove the additional element of armed robbery: the presence of a weapon. Boggs entered the restaurant brandishing a gun and Hargrave continued to assist him during the armed robbery. The evidence thus did not support a lesser-included offense instruction on simple robbery, and therefore the trial court did not abuse its discretion in declining to give such an instruction.