Court Opinion

ID: 9532916
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:26:13.207391+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:28:52.226353
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE BILANDIC, dissenting: I respectfully dissent. Trial courts should not have the discretion to give a lesser-included offense instruction sua sponte over the objection of the defendant. The decision to tender a lesser-included offense instruction is a matter of defense trial strategy. Although such an instruction may often be beneficial to the defendant, it may also work to the defendant’s detriment by allowing the jury to reach a compromise verdict. If the defense chooses to forgo a lesser-included offense instruction and gamble that the jury will acquit the defendant rather than convict on the greater charge, the trial court should not have the authority to overrule that strategic decision.