Opinion ID: 2582263
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Lesser Included Offenses of Manufacture of Methamphetamine

Text: In a related argument, the defendant contends the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury on possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to manufacture and possession of methamphetamine as lesser included offenses of manufacture of methamphetamine. The defendant did not request such instructions. As noted by the Court of Appeals panel, where a defendant complains of error in the failure to give lesser included offense instructions but did not request such instructions, the appellate court will not reverse unless the failure to give the instructions was clearly erroneous. See State v. Young, 277 Kan. 588, 600, 87 P.3d 308 (2004). In this case, the Court of Appeals concluded that possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to manufacture and possession of methamphetamine were not lesser included offenses of manufacture of methamphetamine because there was no identity of the elements between the offenses. Thus, the court found no error in the trial court's failure to give lesser included instructions. Schoonover, slip op. at 19. As previously discussed, K.S.A. 2005 Supp. 21-3107 governs whether one offense is a lesser included offense of another. The portion of the statutory definition which applies to this issue states that (b) a crime where all elements of the lesser crime are identical to some of the elements of the crime charged. K.S.A. 2005 Supp. 21-3107(2). As seen in the discussion of the double jeopardy issue, the offenses of possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to manufacture and possession of methamphetamine do not contain elements which are identical to some or all of the elements of the offense of manufacture of methamphetamine and, therefore, neither is a lesser included offense of manufacture of methamphetamine. The trial court did not err in failing to give a lesser included offense instruction.