Wortham, Ronald Eugene Jr.

OPINION

in which MEYERS, PRICE, WOMACK, JOHNSON, HERVEY, COCHRAN, and ALCALA, J.J., joined.

Ronald Wortham was convicted of injury to a child. The Ninth Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment, holding that the trial judge did not err in denying Wort-ham’s request for a jury instruction on the lesser-included offenses of reckless and criminally negligent injury to a child.1 Because the court of appeals misapplied the two-part analysis used to determine the availability of lesser-included offense instructions, we reverse its judgment.

BACKGROUND

Ronald Wortham lived with C.G. and C.G.’s…