Campbell

"I. INTRODUCTION

Defendant and appellant Aaron Robert Campbell met Silvester Leyva at a hookah bar where they exchanged telephone numbers and discussed buying and selling marijuana. A few days later, Campbell and defendant and appellant Xavier James Fort, among others, went to Leyva’s house to obtain marijuana. Leyva and his friend, Samuel De La Torre, met Campbell in Leyva’s front yard. After De La Torre handed marijuana to Campbell, Campbell pulled a gun and began to back away toward two waiting vehicles. Fort, who was standing near the vehicles, fired his gun in the direction of the house. Leyva was killed by one of the bullets.

A jury convicted defendants of first degree murder and found true a robbery special-circumstance allegation. The jury also convicted them of two counts of robbery based upon the taking of the marijuana. In one robbery count, Leyva was the victim; in the other, De La Torre was the victim.

Regarding the murder charge, the jury was instructed on first degree felony murder only, with robbery as the underlying felony. On appeal, Fort argues that, based on the accusatory pleading, the trial court had a sua sponte duty to instruct on lesser…