State v. Snedeker

Defendant was indicted for first degree robbery (ORS 164.415)① and convicted of the included crime, second degree robbery (ORS 164.405).② In this appeal he contends that by erroneously instructing the jury as to the inferences it might draw from the evidence the court “effectively eliminated the necessity of proof beyond a reasonable doubt on the elements of second degree robbery for which [he] was convicted * * * [thereby precluding] a jury determination of [his] guilt on the lesser included offense of first degree theft.”

Defendant admitted to being an accomplice with one Johnson in stealing…