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Lesser Included Offenses in Oklahoma
A lesser included offense, is an offense that is necessarily included in the commission of the crime(s) charged. After the conclusion of the evidence of a jury trial either side may request, or the judge may instruct the jury on their own, that they may consider whether or not a defendant is guilty of a lesser offense. This is often a big delemma for a defendant and their counsel. Generally experienced trial lawyers believe that if a jury is given an option of considering a lesser offense that they are more likely to convict a defendant of something, but that the defendant is more likely to receive a lighter punishment. Jurors are instructed "You are not required to determine unanimously that the defendant is not guilty of the crime charged before you consider a lesser included offense." (See OUJI CR-10-24)
If a defenfant is convicted of the lesser offense, as a matter of law they are acquitted of the greater offense, this is the only way a defendant can be acquitted of an offense with a less than unanimous jury.