People v. Hicks

Defendant was charged with armed robbery, and was convicted, after jury trial, of robbery of candy store. Evidence showed that Defendant grappled with cashier when he took money from cash register and thus used "force" sufficient to convict him of offense of robbery. Court did not err in sua sponte instructing jury as to lesser-included offense of robbery. No ineffective assistance of counsel in defense counsel's failure to define force, as no pattern jury instruction defines force, and outcome of trial would likely not have changed even if force was defined. (FITZGERALD SMITH and COBBS, concurring.)