Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District / Nov 3, 2020
STATE OF MISSOURI, Respondent vs. LARRY W. TARVER, JR., Appellant
Larry Tarver, Jr. was convicted of first-degree robbery. On appeal, he claimed plain error because the verdict-directing instruction at trial varied from the formal charge, requiring jurors to find he used "what appeared to be a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument" instead of "a dangerous instrument." The appellate court affirmed the conviction, finding that the variance was not material or prejudicial, especially since Tarver's defense theory would have prevailed under either instruction and he failed to object at trial.