McCloud v. State

Terrance McCloud appeals his conviction for burglary of a dwelling, arguing that the trial court erred when it did not instruct the jury on the lesser-included crime of trespass. Because all of the elements of trespass were included in the charging document, and evidence was presented to support those elements, the trial court was obligated to instruct the jury on trespass, as McCloud’s attorney had requested. Because the failure to instruct on a necessarily lesser included offense one step removed from the crime for which a defendant was convicted constitutes per se reversible error, we…