Grey v. State

I agree that Arevalo 1 was wrongly decided, that the four dissenters in Arevalo were correct,2 that the doctrine has proven unworkable, and that it has led to unjust, unanticipated results. I join the majority in overruling it.

But I would go further and provide some guidance to the bench and bar on when a trial court must grant a request by either the defense or State for a lesser-included instruction and when it may include such an instruction, with or without a request.

The goal of jury instructions is to guide the jury’s deliberations in reaching an accurate verdict based upon the facts and…