People v. Richardson

We granted leave to appeal in this case to consider a number of issues, including whether a trial judge’s refusal to give a properly requested lesser included offense instruction is harmless error in a case where the jury was instructed on some other lesser offenses and returned a verdict of guilty on a higher, charged offense.

Our review of the record reveals two errors which require reversal of the defendant’s conviction and remand for a new trial. First, on the record evidence in this case, the defendant was entitled to have the jury instructed on the lesser offenses of involuntary…