People v. Wynn

Whether it was necessary for a defendant to object to the failure to grant as well as request a jury instruction on lesser included offenses in order to preserve the point for appeal was the principal issue in the Court of Appeals and in the briefs and arguments before this Court. However, careful study of the record reveals that there is a threshold issue before that, namely, was there in fact a legal request. If there was not, then there are two further issues in this case. One, should the trial court have on its own initiative given such an instruction, even without any request. The other,…