LRO VIII
Impact Of Lesser Related Offenses
On Case Disposition [§LRO-26]
LRO VIII(A) Conviction Of Both Charged And Lesser Related Offenses [§LRO-27]: One court has upheld convictions for both the charged and lesser related offense, as long as defendant’s punishment was not increased by the lesser offense conviction. People v. Thomas (91) 231 CA3d 299, 306 [282 CR 258].)
LRO VIII(B) Refiling After Reversal [§LRO-28]: Following reversal for failure to instruct on a lesser related offense, the Court of Appeal may grant leave to refile on a charged offense, with conviction on a lesser related offense to be automatic if no such refiling occurs. (People v. Woods (91) 226 CA3d 1037, 1050-53 [273 CR 269].) Remand for retrial of the charged offense is permissible if reversal is premised on procedural error rather than on evidentiary insufficiency. (See Green v. Massey (78) 437 US 19, 24 [57 LEd2d 15].)
LRO VIII(C) Trial Court May Not Reduce Charged Offense To A Lesser Related [§LRO-29]. In People v. Lagunas (94) 8 C4th 1030, 1034 [36 CR2d 67], it was held that the trial court may not reduce a verdict to a lesser related offense pursuant to PC 1181. This holding was based on the court’s conclusion that when deciding whether to grant a new trial or to modify a verdict, the trial court is not given an “all-or-nothing” choice as is the jury if a lesser related offense instruction is not given.