Opinion ID: 2185674
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Grand Theft Instruction

Text: Holloway was indicted for robbery in the first degree pursuant to SDCL 22-30-1 and 22-30-6. [1] He argues that the trial court should have instructed the jury on grand theft as a necessarily included offense of robbery. [2] The standard for instructing on lesser included offenses is well settled in this jurisdiction. We employ a legal test and a factual test to determine whether an offense is necessarily included within a greater offense and whether the requested instruction on the lesser offense must be given. See State v. Groves, 473 N.W.2d 456 (S.D.1991); State v. Tapio, 459 N.W.2d 406 (S.D.1990); State v. Gillespie, 445 N.W.2d 661 (S.D.1989); State v. Scholten, 445 N.W.2d 30 (S.D.1989); State v. Bonrud, 393 N.W.2d 785 (S.D.1986). Holloway never requested an instruction on grand theft at the time of trial, and there is no record of any objection to the robbery instruction; therefore, Holloway failed to preserve any error for appeal on this issue. We have previously held when no objections were made by the defendant to any instructions of the court, and the defendant proposed no instructions, there is no question concerning the instructions before this court on appeal. Carlson v. First Nat. Bank, 429 N.W.2d 463, 465 (S.D.1988); State v. White Mountain, 332 N.W.2d 726 (S.D.1983); State v. Halverson, 87 S.D. 110, 203 N.W.2d 421 (1973). Holloway concedes that he did not request a grand theft instruction, but he urges this court to apply the plain error rule to this issue as an alternative. We have previously stated that the plain error rule applies only in exceptional cases, and then it must be applied cautiously; the rule does not encompass every error which occurs at trial, but only those errors which are both obvious and substantial. See State v. Lewandowski, 463 N.W.2d 341, 344 (S.D.1990); People in Interest of R.R., 447 N.W.2d 922, 927 (S.D.1989); State v. Dornbusch, 384 N.W.2d 682, 686 (S.D. 1986). We fail to see how the trial court's alleged error in failing to instruct on grand theft could be both obvious and substantial when Holloway never objected to the robbery instruction, nor requested the grand theft instruction. We have never specifically held that grand theft is a necessarily included offense of robbery and we decline to do so now. The trial court's duty is to instruct the jury on all matters of law which it determines are necessary for the jury to render a verdict. SDCL 23A-25-3. When jury instructions as a whole correctly state the law and inform the jury, they are deemed to be adequate. Lewandowski, supra . We find that the jury instructions given in this case satisfy the above statutory requirement and the failure to give an instruction on grand theft, even if appropriate, does not rise to the level of plain error in this case.