Opinion ID: 415296
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Failure to Instruct on the Lesser Included Offense in Chase

Text: 28 Chase asserts that the district court erred by not giving a lesser included offense instruction on careless driving. A defendant is entitled to a lesser included offense instruction if: (1) the lesser included offense is identified within the offense charged; and (2) a rational jury could find the defendant guilty of the lesser offense but not the greater. United States v. Johnson, 637 F.2d 1224, 1233-1234 (9th Cir.1980); United States v. Muniz, 684 F.2d 634, 636 (9th Cir.1982). In considering the second factor, the focus must be on the evidence adduced at trial. Id. The United States concedes that the first element is met--careless driving is a lesser included offense of vehicular involuntary manslaughter. United States v. Pino, 606 F.2d 908, 917 (10th Cir.1979). The district court apparently believed, however, that the evidence produced at trial was not such that a reasonable jury could find Chase guilty of careless driving but not involuntary manslaughter. Reporter's Transcript at 131. We agree. Chase did not offer any witnesses in response to the government's case. His primary defense was to attempt to exclude the blood-alcohol evidence. The government's case focused primarily on the fact of intoxication. The evidence offered at trial simply did not go to prove Chase acted in anything less than a grossly negligent manner; the jury could not reasonably have convicted him of careless driving. Cf. Pino, supra, 606 F.2d at 917 (Evidence supported instruction on lesser included offense of careless driving when the defendant, in response to government's charge of involuntary manslaughter based on intoxication, offered the testimony of himself and several others that disputed the fact of drunkenness and reckless driving.)