23 June

Lesser Included Charges

Name: The Coffey Firm
Price range: $$$

What are Lesser Included Charges?

Lesser Included Charges are charges that are related to your current charge, but of a typically lower range of punishment. An example might be manslaughter as a lesser included offense of murder. Manslaughter has a different required mental state (reckless) than murder (intentional or knowing), but a same end result (death). Another example would be assault by contact as a lesser included of assault involving bodily injury. Both charges are ‘assault’ charges and both involve some form of contact. But, they have different ranges of punishment (Class C for ‘contact’ and class A for ‘injury’ (generally)) because of the different degree of contact involved.

This is not always true, though. For example, the typical lesser charge for a DWI is Obstruction of Highway/Passageway. Other than being ‘driving’ offenses, these two charges do not seem to be very similar. Common sense would say that the lesser included charge for a DWI would be a DUI or a Public Intoxication. However, the statute for both DUI (Texas Transp. Code 106.041(g)) and Public Intoxication (Texas Penal Code 49.02(d)) both explicitly state that those offenses are “not a lesser included offense” of DWI. This is despite each of these offenses having nearly identical elements with only slight differences (e.g., Public Intoxication doesn’t require driving or operation).

More about Mimi Coffey & The Coffey Firm

When people look for a Top DWI Attorney or Best DWI Attorney, they look for experience, certification, and respect in the legal community. Mimi Coffey is a nationally-renowned trial attorney, board-certified in DWI by the NCDD. She has been practicing for over 24 years and is an author of multiple DWI Defense textbooks. She is also a national and state-wide lecturer on the law.

The Coffey Firm handles a wide variety of cases, including Unlawful Carrying Weapon (UCW), Assault (including family violence), and Possession charges. We can also help you try to get a DWI off your record or avoid probation revocation.

Mimi is also listed on several “top criminal lawyer near me” directory listings such as Wise County DWI Lawyers, Tarrant County DWI Lawyer, Dallas County DWI attorney, Collin County DWI attorneys and Parker County DWI attorneys. Mimi is a caring DWI Lawyer in Dallas – Fort Worth. She also involves herself in the Texas Tech School of Law foundation and enjoys using her skills to give back to the community.