Opinion ID: 1199719
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Claim of instructional error on lesser included offenses.

Text: The jury was instructed on first degree murder based upon two separate theories  felony murder and premeditated murder  and returned a verdict finding defendant guilty of first degree murder based independently upon each theory. (3) Defendant contends the trial court erred in rejecting his requested instructions on second degree murder and voluntary manslaughter as lesser included offenses of premeditated first degree murder. We disagree. The evidence established that Chester was killed either by defendant or by one of his accomplices in the course of a burglary or a robbery (the prosecution's theory)  or by Handley, Centers, or some other third party (the theory of the defense). The record contains no substantial evidence that would have supported defendant's conviction of second degree murder or voluntary manslaughter. (See People v. Morris (1991) 53 Cal.3d 152, 211 [279 Cal. Rptr. 720, 807 P.2d 949].) Thus, the omission of these instructions did not constitute error.