Opinion ID: 1538362
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Is armed assault and battery a lesser included offense of assault with intent to kill by one armed with a dangerous weapon?

Text: This question requires only a brief negative answer. Even assuming arguendo that all the other elements of the offense of armed assault and battery are included in the offense of assault with intent to kill by one armed with a dangerous weapon, armed assault and battery plainly contemplates an element which assault with intent to kill by one armed with a dangerous weapon does not, namely, a battery. A person may commit the offense of assault with intent to kill by one armed with a dangerous weapon without necessarily committing a battery. Since armed assault and battery therefore contains at least one element not included in assault with intent to kill by one armed with a dangerous weapon, the former is not a lesser included offense of the latter. Bowden, supra, 342 A.2d at 285; Bessey v. State, Me., 297 A. 2d 373, 375 (1972); Leeman, supra, 291 A.2d at 711.