Lesser Included Offense Definition

noun
A more minor category of criminal act (or one with a lesser penalty), all of the elements of which are included in the more serious crime being charged.
Webster's New World Law

(law) A crime the elements of which coincide with the elements of a more serious crime, from which the prosecutor is therefore precluded from separately charging a criminal defendant.

A robbery is an assault combined with a theft; a person can not be criminally charged with both the robbery and the assault that occurred during the robbery; the assault is a lesser included offense.
Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Lesser Included Offense

Noun

Singular:
lesser included offense
Plural:
lesser-included-offenses

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