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People v. Frye7/30/1998
r who succeeds in killing his victim before taking the victim's personal property cannot be guilty of robbery. Defendant's claim of insufficient evidence is premised on a misunderstanding of the immediate presence element of robbery. So long as defendant formed the intent to take the Brandts' possessions before killing them, he was properly convicted of robbery. (Cf. People v. Kelly, supra, 1 Cal.4th at pp. 528-529; People v. Green (1980) 27 Cal.3d 1, 52-54.) From the same evidence supporting the jury's determination that defendant entered the Brandts' cabin with the intent to steal, recounted ante, the jury could reasonably infer defendant intended to take the Brandts' money and property before he shot them. We conclude substantial evidence supports the convictions of first degree robbery murder and robbery, as well as the robbery-murder special-circumstance finding.
A. Jury Instructions
Defendant contends the trial court committed numerous errors in instructing the jury, violating his rights under the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the federal Constitution and analogous provisions of the California Constitution.
In reviewing the purportedly erroneous instructions, "we inquire `whether there is a reasonable likelihood that the jury has applied the challenged instruction in a way' that violates the Constitution." (Estelle v. McGuire (1991) 502 U.S. 62, 72, quoting Boyde v. California (1990) 494 U.S. 370, 380 (Boyde).) In conducting this inquiry, we are mindful that " `a single instruction to a jury may not be Judged in artificial isolation, but must be viewed in the context of the overall charge.' " (Boyde, supra, 494 U.S. at p. 378, quoting Cupp v. Naughten (1973) 414 U.S. 141, 146-147; see also People v. Burgener (1986) 41 Cal.3d 505, 538 (Burgener) [under California law, correctness of jury instructions determined from entire charge of the court].)
1. Preliminary instruction regarding the information
During jury selection, the trial court read to one group of prospective jurors the charges against defendant set forth in the information. The court then stated, "Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, the information I've just read to you is a mere formal charge. It's not offered and not to be considered by you as such."
Defendant contends that the trial court's omission of the word "evidence" from this instruction was confusing to the jury and prejudicial because a copy of the information was given to the jury for use during deliberations.
Although the court misspoke by dropping the word "evidence" from its initial instruction to one group of prospective jurors, it correctly charged the members of the jury prior to their deliberations that " he Information is a mere formal charge. It's not evidence and is not to be considered as such." It is not reasonably likely the jury was confused by the trial court's mistake during jury selection.
1. Burden of proof
Citing In re Winship (1970) 397 U.S. 358 (Winship), and its progeny, defendant claims a number of the instructions shifted the burden of proof in violation of the due process clause, which "protects the accused against conviction except upon proof beyond a reasonable doubt of every fact necessary to constitute the crime with which he is charged." (Id. at p. 364.)
Defendant first complains the trial court's numerous references to "innocence" during the course of charging the jury placed on him the burden of establishing his innocence of the charged crimes.
The trial court instructed jurors not to be biased against defendant because he has been charged with a crime or brought to trial, nor to infer from these cir
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