Reference no: EM133034889
A "lesser-included offense" is a lesser crime that contains some of the same elements as a more serious crime (Maloney 2014). An example of a lesser-included offense is voluntary manslaughter is a lesser offense than murder.
In some courts, they may look at the charges that are on the documents to see if an offense is lesser included. For example, along with providing instructions to the jury of the elements required to prove rape, the trial court also explained the lesser-included offenses of sexual battery and gross sexual imposition. (A "lesser-included offense" is a lesser crime that contains some of the same elements as a more serious crime) (Maloney 2014). If someone murdered someone with an object like a high heel shoe, the lesser charge included assault with a deadly weapon.
If someone was robbed and they were unaware meaning that they were unconscious from doing drugs or drinking alcohol, the courts can say that there was more than one crime committed during one single act.
The double jeopardy clause in the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from prosecuting individuals more than once for a single offense and from imposing more than one punishment for a single offense. It provides that "No person shall ... be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb." Most state constitutions also guarantee this right to defendants appearing in state court. Even in states that don't expressly guarantee this right in their laws, the protection against double jeopardy must still be afforded to criminal defendants because the Fifth Amendment's Double Jeopardy Clause has been made applicable to state proceedings via the doctrine of incorporation (The concept of double jeopardy 2013).
For example, if someone is caught near a school with drugs and a weapon they. They can be charged for intent to distribute the drug, intent to distribute drugs within a specific radius of a school, intent to distribute to a minor or children were in the area at the time, carrying a weapon if they did not have the right o carry a weapon and having a weapon within a specific radius of a school zone.