Submitting Lesser-Included Violations to the Jury
by: Ryan • April 22, 2011 • no comments
Sometimes, the crime the defendant is charged with doesn't accurately capture his behavior. Maybe he didn't actually commit Felony Fleeing, but he didn't pull over as soon as he should have. In a case like the, the defense might want to submit to the jury another option, Failure to Yield to an Emergency Vehicle. Under current law, the defendant cannot give the jury that option, since it's a violation and jurors cannot decide violations.
More commonly, perhaps, defendants would want the jury to consider careless driving as an alternative to reckless driving. Same problem.
There's reason to hope the law might change. Just this week, the Oregon Supreme Court granted review on this exact issue. The media release announcing the grant and describing the questions presented is here: [04-21-11_Supreme_Court_Conference_Results_Media_Release].
