Opinion ID: 1197787
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Status of Henderson

Text: Our decision today requires us to revisit our holding in Henderson, 116 N.M. at 541, 865 P.2d at 1185. In that case, Henderson unsuccessfully argued that the trial court had committed reversible error by refusing to grant his requested instruction on indecent exposure as a lesser-included offense of contributing to the delinquency of a minor (CDM). We concluded that because indecent exposure includes statutory elements not included within CDM, the former is not lesser-included within the latter. Id. In short, we applied the strict statutory elements method of analysis. Our reaffirmation of DeMary in the present appeal thus appears to result in two different standards. If, on the one hand, the State requests a lesser-included offense instruction, then the trial court must analyze the instruction's propriety under DeMary. Such an inquiry focuses on the pleadings, the evidence adduced at trial, and the defendant's constitutional right to notice. On the other hand, if the defendant requests the instruction, then notice is not a concern, and Henderson mandates application of the strict elements approach. This dual standard may actually make it easier for the State to obtain a lesser-included offense instruction, and for this reason may be offensive to the due process clauses of our State and Federal Constitutions. See generally Mascolo, supra, at 283-85. Because the issue is not properly before us and has not been briefed, we will not attempt to define the precise contours of the defendant's right to a lesser-included offense instruction. However, we note that the Henderson opinion did not discuss and did not purport to overrule the line of cases describing a defendant's right to a lesser-included offense instruction. E.g., State v. Escamilla, 107 N.M. 510, 512, 760 P.2d 1276, 1278 (1988) (there must be evidence tending to establish the lesser offense and some view of the evidence which could sustain a finding that the lesser offense was the highest degree of the crime committed) (quoting State v. Hernandez, 104 N.M. 268, 276, 720 P.2d 303, 311 (Ct.App.), cert. denied, 104 N.M. 201, 718 P.2d 1349 (1986)). We do decide that the defendant's right to such an instruction is at least as great as the State's right, and that the defendant is entitled to such an instruction if, under the facts of a given case, the State would be so entitled. Thus, to the extent that Henderson applies the strict elements approach, that case is overruled as inconsistent with Escamilla.