State v. Allen

We allowed review in this case to decide whether to approve a rule stated by the Court of Appeals concerning how a trial court in a criminal case should instruct a jury on lesser included offenses.

In this case the trial court instructed the jury that if the jury found the defendant not guilty of kidnapping in the first degree, it should then consider whether the state has proved the defendant guilty of the lesser included charge of kidnapping in the second degree. The Court of Appeals held this instruction to constitute prejudicial error and reduced the defendant’s convictions on the…