Barker

Following his convictions of first degree murder and robbery, Vernon Leroy Barker appeals, asserting that the trial court (1) improperly instructed the jury they could convict him of murder based only upon his possession of property stolen from the victim and “slight” corroborating evidence, (2) erroneously failed to give the jury an instruction on the lesser included offense of theft, (3) prejudicially erred by instruction of the jury on their duty to deliberate, and (4) erroneously imposed a parole revocation fine. Finding the latter point only to have merit, we order the judgment modified to delete reference to the parole revocation fine and otherwise affirm the judgment.

Factual Background

A. Coming to America

John Simpson, a roller coaster enthusiast visiting from England, arrived with two friends at the Los Angeles airport on Saturday, February 13, 1999, where they were met by a fourth friend who lived in the Los Angeles area. At the Los Angeles airport Simpson rented a white Chevrolet Cavalier, which he was scheduled to return to the San Diego airport one week later, on Saturday, February 20. Simpson arranged to meet his friends back in Los Angeles on the…