Hoyt Crace v. Robert Herzog

The Washington Supreme Court had to decide what effect, if any, defense counsel’s failure to request a jury instruction on a lesser included offense had on Crace’s conviction for attempted assault. The Washington Supreme Court held that because sufficient evidence supported Crace’s conviction for attempted assault, the presence of a second lesser included offense instruction would not have changed the outcome of his trial. My review of the applicable Supreme Court law and the conflicting decisions by other courts on this issue compels me to conclude that the Washington Supreme Court’s…