Opinion ID: 1197787
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Prosecutor's Request for a Jury Instruction on the Lesser-Included Offense of Aggravated Battery

Text: The grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging Meadors with attempted first degree murder, aggravated arson, and negligent use of an explosive. At trial after both parties had rested, the State requested a jury instruction on aggravated battery as a lesser-included offense of attempted first degree murder. Meadors objected on the ground that aggravated battery is not a lesser-included offense of attempted murder and that such an instruction would violate his constitutional right to receive notice of the crime charged. [1] See Schmuck v. United States, 489 U.S. 705, 717-18, 109 S.Ct. 1443, 1451-52, 103 L.Ed.2d 734 (1989). On appeal Meadors argues that under State v. Henderson, 116 N.M. 537, 541, 865 P.2d 1181, 1185 (1993), one offense is not a lesser-included offense within another unless all of the statutory elements of the lesser offense are also statutory elements of the greater offense. Aggravated battery includes the statutory elements of an unlawful touching and either the use of a deadly weapon, great bodily harm, or the likelihood of great bodily harm, none of which are statutory elements of attempted murder. Compare NMSA 1978, § 30-3-5 (Repl.Pamp.1994) with NMSA 1978, §§ 30-2-1 & 30-28-1 (Repl. Pamp.1994).
We begin our analysis by recognizing that the issue of whether one criminal offense is a lesser-included [2] offense of another arises in at least three different contexts. First, the issue comes up in the context of double jeopardy. The Double Jeopardy Clause prohibits successive prosecutions for two offenses arising out of the same conduct if either one is a lesser-included offense within the other. See Brown v. Ohio, 432 U.S. 161, 165-66, 97 S.Ct. 2221, 2225-26, 53 L.Ed.2d 187 (1977). The second type of situation arises when the defendant requests a jury instruction on a lesser-included offense of the crime charged, and the third situation is that which is presented here: a request by the prosecutor for a jury instruction on a lesser-included offense. Although the latter two categories both fall within the purview of SCRA 1986, 5-611(D) (Repl.Pamp.1992), [3] we view these two categories as distinct because different interests are implicated depending upon whether the defendant or the State requests the instruction. See United States v. Whitaker, 447 F.2d 314, 321 (D.C.Cir. 1971), overruled by Schmuck, 489 U.S. at 716, 109 S.Ct. at 1450-51. The defendant's constitutional right to notice of the crime against which he must defend is a consideration that arises when, as here, the State requests a jury instruction on a lesser-included offense over the defendant's objection. Notice is not an issue when the defendant makes such a request because the request itself constitutes a waiver of the right to notice. A defendant's request does, however, implicate other constitutional considerations. See generally Edward G. Mascolo, Procedural Due Process and the Lesser-Included Offense Doctrine, 50 Alb.L.Rev. 263, 267-69 (1985) [hereinafter Mascolo]. This Court's opinion in Henderson, 116 N.M. at 541, 865 P.2d at 1185, involved such a request, and we will return to that case later in this discussion. Courts of different jurisdictions have further complicated this area of the law by developing several different analytical approaches to the question of whether one offense is a lesser-included offense within another. See generally State v. Jeffries, 430 N.W.2d 728, 730-32 (Iowa 1988). We offer brief descriptions of these different theories with the caveat that, although there are three or four basic theories, there is much overlap between them and it is often difficult to classify precisely a particular court's methodology. The most straightforward and least flexible approach is the so-called strict elements test. Under this method, a court would find an offense to be a lesser-included offense of another only if the statutory elements of the lesser offense are a sub-set of the statutory elements of the greater offense such that it would be impossible ever to commit the greater offense without also committing the lesser offense. The United States Supreme Court adopted this approach in Schmuck, 489 U.S. at 716, 109 S.Ct. at 1450-51, and New Mexico has embraced a form of the strict elements test, based on Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932), as an aid in determining legislative intent for double jeopardy purposes. See Swafford v. State, 112 N.M. 3, 14, 810 P.2d 1223, 1234 (1991). Another analytical approach is the indictment or pleading theory, also referred to as the cognate-pleading theory, Jeffries, 430 N.W.2d at 731, under which one offense is lesser-included within the offense charged if the allegations of the charging document, when taken as true, would prove all the essential elements of the lesser offense. See United States v. Browner, 937 F.2d 165, 168 (5th Cir.1991) (discussing pleading theory). Other courts have employed what has been referred to as the inherent relationship test, which focuses upon the interests to be protected and whether proof of the lesser offense is necessarily [though not invariably] presented as part of the showing of the commission of the greater offense. Whitaker, 447 F.2d at 319. Another method is the cognate-evidence approach, which involves an examination of the statutory elements and the evidence adduced at trial to determine whether, under the facts of the particular case, the lesser offense is sufficiently related to the charged offense to warrant a jury instruction on the former. See Jeffries, 430 N.W.2d at 731. Still another analytical method embodies a hybrid of the cognate-pleadings and cognate-evidence approaches. Under this hybrid method, the court's inquiry focuses upon both the charging instrument and the evidence adduced at trial. See Mascolo, supra, at 276.
The parties' arguments in this appeal bear out the confusion that currently exists in this jurisdiction over which method of lesser-included offense analysis is appropriate when the State requests a lesser-included offense instruction. This Court last addressed the issue in State v. DeMary, 99 N.M. 177, 655 P.2d 1021 (1982), in which we said: For the offense to be necessarily included, the greater offense cannot be committed without also committing the lesser offense. In order to determine whether the [lesser offense] is necessarily included in the greater offense ..., the specific [statutory] elements of [the greater and lesser offense] must initially be construed in light of the evidence. The particular facts of each case must then be reviewed in light of the specific elements of each crime. When the evidence justifies the instructions, the proof of such particular circumstances will be determined by a jury. Id. at 179, 655 P.2d at 1023 (citations omitted). Meadors argues on appeal that with this language the DeMary Court embraced the strict elements approach. Meadors buttresses his argument by pointing out that this Court applied the strict elements approach in Henderson, 116 N.M. at 541, 865 P.2d at 1185, a case involving a defendant's request for a jury instruction on a lesser-included offense. The State, on the other hand, argues that DeMary embraced the cognate approach rather than the strict elements approach, and that the Henderson opinion does not control the present case. As these arguments demonstrate, DeMary has left some confusion in its wake. It is likely that some of this confusion arises from the statement in DeMary that [f]or the offense to be necessarily included, the greater offense cannot be committed without also committing the lesser offense. 99 N.M. at 179, 655 P.2d at 1023. We recognize that this language provides a basis for Meadors' view that the DeMary Court adopted a strict elements approach. However, the result in DeMary demonstrates that this interpretation is incorrect. After examining the statutory elements of the crimes and the evidence adduced at trial, the DeMary Court concluded that, under the facts of that case, aggravated assault was a lesser-included offense of aggravated battery. Id. at 179-80, 655 P.2d at 1023-24. The defendant in DeMary was convicted of the lesser offense of aggravated assault, which included the essential elements of unlawfully assaulting or striking at another with a deadly weapon. Id. (emphasis omitted) (quoting NMSA 1978, Section 30-3-2). The elements of aggravated battery for which DeMary was also charged were the unlawful touching or application of force to the person of another with intent to injure that person or another. Id. at 178, 655 P.2d at 1022 (emphasis omitted) (quoting Section 30-3-5). Under these definitions, it is possible to commit the crime of aggravated battery without also committing the crime of aggravated assault. The DeMary Court concluded however that, under the particular circumstances of this case, it would not be possible to commit aggravated battery without also committing aggravated assault. Id. at 179, 655 P.2d at 1023 (emphasis added). Because aggravated assault included a statutory element that was not a statutory element of aggravated battery, it follows that the DeMary Court could not have been applying a strict elements method of analysis. See Schmuck, 489 U.S. at 716, 109 S.Ct. at 1450-51. Instead, we conclude that the DeMary Court intended that [f]or the offense to be necessarily included, the greater offense cannot be committed [ under the facts of the case as alleged in the charging document and supported by the evidence ] without also committing the lesser offense. See DeMary, 99 N.M. at 179, 655 P.2d at 1023. The Court of Appeals took a similar view of DeMary in State v. Jacobs, 102 N.M. 801, 804, 701 P.2d 400, 403 (Ct.App.1985). After considering the language of DeMary in light of some of the decisions of the courts of our sister states and other authorities, we conclude that the State accurately characterizes DeMary as adopting the hybrid approach, which combines the cognate-pleadings and the cognate-evidence approaches, similar to that used in Alaska and Connecticut. See Marker v. State, 692 P.2d 977, 980 (Alaska Ct.App.1984); State v. Marino, 190 Conn. 639, 462 A.2d 1021, 1029 (1983). One commentator has described this approach as follows: Some courts have blended the cognate theory, with its emphasis upon analyzing the accusatory instrument, and the evidentiary facet of the statutory theory to produce a two-pronged inquiry. These courts assess both the greater offense, as charged in the accusatory pleading, and the evidence developed at trial to determine the propriety of lesser-included offense instructions to the jury. This approach reflects a concern that it is unrealistic to apply the reasonable-doubt standard of proof solely in terms of the offense as charged in the accusatory pleading. It is more realistic, and just, for a court to determine the need for lesser-included offense instructions by examining not only the offense alleged in the charging instrument but also the evidence adduced at trial, for it is that evidence which will ultimately confirm or invalidate the accuracy of the accusatory pleading. Mascolo, supra, at 276 (footnotes omitted). [4] As in Marker, we shall refer to this hybrid test simply as the cognate approach. See Marker, 692 P.2d at 980. We will continue to adhere to the cognate approach as set forth in DeMary. This method avoids what we view as the overly technical inflexibility of the strict elements approach, see id., yet provides the defendant with adequate notice of the crime against which he must defend. Furthermore, in order to guide the trial courts in their application of the DeMary standard, we provide the following clarification. First, the trial court should, when faced with a request from the State for a lesser-included offense instruction, grant the request when the statutory elements of the lesser crime are a subset of the statutory elements of the charged crime. In addition, the trial court should grant such an instruction if (1) the defendant could not have committed the greater offense in the manner described in the charging document without also committing the lesser offense, and therefore notice of the greater offense necessarily incorporates notice of the lesser offense; (2) the evidence adduced at trial is sufficient to sustain a conviction on the lesser offense; and (3) the elements that distinguish the lesser and greater offenses are sufficiently in dispute such that a jury rationally could acquit on the greater offense and convict on the lesser. See Marino, 462 A.2d at 1029. Application of these principles to the case at bar supports the conclusion that the trial court properly instructed the jury on aggravated battery as a lesser-included offense of attempted murder. Here the State's theory of the case differed from the defendant's theory only on the issue of his mental state. Meadors testified that he had thrown the cup of gasoline down in disgust, inadvertently splashing Walker and that he had then struck the match to protect himself from Walker. Based upon the allegations in the indictment and the evidence adduced at trial, a jury could reasonably conclude that Meadors had intended to throw gasoline on Walker and ignite him, but that he had lacked the intent to take Walker's life. This would support a conviction of aggravated battery, but not of attempted murder.
In urging this Court to embrace a strict elements approach, Meadors contends that a fact-based inquiry will not adequately protect a defendant's right to notice. Meadors advances this argument with a citation to Schmuck, in which the United States Supreme Court said: It is ancient doctrine of both the common law and of our Constitution that a defendant cannot be held to answer a charge not contained in the indictment brought against him. This stricture is based at least in part on the right of the defendant to notice of the charge brought against him. Were the prosecutor able to request an instruction on an offense whose elements were not charged in the indictment, this right to notice would be placed in jeopardy. Specifically, if, as mandated under the inherent relationship approach, the determination whether the offenses are sufficiently related to permit an instruction is delayed until all the evidence is developed at trial, the defendant may not have constitutionally sufficient notice to support a lesser included offense instruction requested by the prosecutor if the elements of that lesser offense are not part of the indictment. 489 U.S. at 717-18, 109 S.Ct. at 1451-52 (citations omitted). We do not think that the constitutional infirmities described in this passage apply to the DeMary standard. First, we note that the Schmuck Court did not hold that the defendant's constitutional right to notice mandated adoption of the strict elements approach. The Court was not confronted with the issue of a defendant's constitutional right to notice in the case. Instead the Schmuck Court examined what standard to apply for Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 31(c). [5] As part of its Rule 31(c) analysis, the Court noted that adopting the relaxed inherent relationship approach might not provide sufficient protection to a defendant under the constitutional notice requirement. This in turn could lead to an asymmetric application of Rule 31(c) in which a defendant would be entitled to a lesser-included offense instruction under the rule, whereas the prosecution, bound by the stricter mandates of the constitutional notice requirement, might not. Thus, in order to ensure mutuality under Rule 31(c), the Schmuck Court adopted the most restrictive analysis, which would clearly satisfy the constitutional requirements and apply equally to both sides. It did not attempt to alter the traditional approach to the issue of a defendant's constitutional right to notice. See Russell v. United States, 369 U.S. 749, 763-64, 82 S.Ct. 1038, 1046-47, 8 L.Ed.2d 240 (1962) (noting that to satisfy constitutional requirements an indictment must contain the elements of the offenses charged, and sufficiently apprise the defendant of the nature of the offenses that he or she must defend against). Second, the concerns expressed by the Schmuck Court were directed at the inherent relationship approach employed by the lower court. Schmuck, 489 U.S. at 716-17, 109 S.Ct. at 1450-51. The cognate approach adopted by this Court in DeMary, however, provides stronger protections than the inherent relationship approach. The DeMary approach looks primarily to whether the accusatory instrument encompasses the elements of the lesser-included offense, and only looks to the evidence adduced at trial to help interpret the applicability of those elements set out in the instrument. Thus, the Schmuck Court's criticism that under the inherent relationship standard a court would focus solely on a defendant's conduct proved at trial regardless of the statutory definitions is in apposite to the DeMary approach. Id. at 717, 109 S.Ct. at 1451. The cognate approach adopted in DeMary is fully consistent with a defendant's constitutional right to adequate notice. Under DeMary, as now clarified, an offense is a lesser-included offense only if the defendant cannot commit the greater offense in the manner described in the charging document without also committing the lesser offense. Accordingly, the defendant should be fully aware of the possible offenses for which he or she may face prosecution and should have ample opportunity to prepare a defense. Cf. State v. Crews, 110 N.M. 723, 737, 799 P.2d 592, 606 (Ct.App.) (applying Russell analysis to evaluate constitutional notice), cert. denied, 109 N.M. 232, 784 P.2d 419 (1989). Finally, we emphasize that the trial court should, when faced with a motion by the State for a lesser-included offense instruction, conduct an independent analysis of the notice issue. If the judge determines for any reason that under the circumstances of that case a defendant has not received constitutionally adequate notice of a lesser offense, then the judge should deny the instruction. Our evaluation of the indictment within the context of this case leads us to conclude that, although this may be a close case, Meadors received meaningful notice that he faced liability for the crime of aggravated battery. Count I of the indictment alleged that Meadors had intended to commit First Degree Murder, and began to do an act which constituted a substantial part of First Degree Murder. This allegation describes the statutory elements of attempted murder, but it fails to allege two statutory elements of aggravated battery, an unlawful touching and either great bodily harm or the likelihood of great bodily harm. However, Count II of the indictment, which charged Meadors with aggravated arson, averred that Meadors did maliciously or willfully start a fire or cause an explosion with the intent to destroy or damage the residence ... which belonged to Gary Walker, which caused great bodily harm to Gary Walker. Finally, Count III charged Meadors with malicious use of an explosive and alleged that Meadors did maliciously explode or attempt to explode or place an explosive with the intent to injure or intimidate or terrify another or to damage anothers [sic] property. All three counts alleged that the conduct occurred on May 12, 1993, and there has never been any doubt that the three counts referred to the same conduct and that this conductdousing Walker with gasoline and igniting himwas the act constituting a substantial part of First Degree Murder to which Count I referred. Thus, the three counts of the indictment put Meadors on notice that he would need to defend against the essential elements of an unlawful touching and serious bodily injury to the victim. In that respect, this case is distinguishable from those cases in which appellate courts have reversed convictions on the ground that a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to notice was violated when the defendant was convicted of an offense that included an element not charged in the charging instrument. See Sheppard v. Rees, 909 F.2d 1234, 1236-37 (9th Cir.1989); Givens v. Housewright, 786 F.2d 1378, 1381 (9th Cir.1986). Moreover, the defendant's theory of the case differed from the State's theory only on the issue of his mental state at the time of the act. Meadors testified that he was at the scene when Walker was burned, that he had thrown the cup of gasoline, and that he had struck the match. Under the facts as alleged in the indictment and supported by the evidence presented by both parties, Meadors could not have committed the crime of attempted murder without also committing the crime of aggravated battery. Thus, we cannot say that Meadors was taken by surprise or that his defense was in any way impaired. See Gray, 662 F.2d at 574 (Tang, J., concurring); Sheppard, 909 F.2d at 1236 n. 2 (recognizing that meaningful notice of a criminal charge can come from various sources and that the Constitution itself speaks not of form, but of substance).
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.