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.

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