University of Tulsa College of Law TU Law Digital Commons Articles, Chapters in Books and Other Contributions to Scholarly Works 1985 Lesser Included Offenses in Oklahoma Chris Blair
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.utulsa.edu/fac_pub Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation 38 Okla. L. Rev. 697 (1985). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by TU Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articles, Chapters in Books and Other Contributions to Scholarly Works by an authorized administrator of TU Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSES IN OKLAHOMA CHRISTEN R. BLAIR* Introduction The lesser included offense doctrine in criminal law generally allows the trier of fact to convict a defendant of an offense that is less serious than the offense with which he was charged in the accusatory pleading.' While the doctrine originally developed as an aid to the prosecution when there was insufficient evidence to convict on the charged offense,2 today it is more often used by defendants seeking a conviction for an offense less serious than that actually charged.3 Regardless of who invokes the doctrine in a criminal trial, however, its application has caused considerable confusion among courts and commentators alike.4 Commentators have called it a "Gordian Knot" 5 and a "many-headed hydra." ' 6 The Florida Supreme Court has stated: "The doc- trine [of lesser included offense] is one which has challenged the effective administration of criminal justice for centuries," 7 while the District of Col- umbia Circuit Court of Appeals has said that the doctrine "[is] not without difficulty in any area of the criminal law." 8 The primary cause of this confu- sion is the existence of several different definitions of a lesser included offense, sometimes even within the same jurisdiction.