State v. Gipson

OPINION

HURWITZ, Vice Chief Justice.

¶ 1 We are asked to decide whether a trial judge may instruct a jury on a lesser included offense supported by the evidence over objections from the defense and the prosecution. We hold that, although a judge should hesitate to give the instruction in such circumstances, it was not reversible error in this ease to do so.

I

¶ 2 Gary Wayne Gipson, Jr. and Billy Joe Huff, Jr. had a financial dispute about a business venture. 1 Huff, accompanied by his father, drove to Gipson’s house to resolve matters.

¶ 3 Huff went to the door while his father waited in the car.…