Haynes v. State
An appellate court may
not reform a trial court's judgment to reflect a
conviction for an unrequested lesser-included offense that was not
submitted to the jury, when the appellate court decides that the
evidence is insufficient to support the jury's guilty verdict for the
greater offense but
is sufficient to support a conviction for the lesser-included offense. A court of appeals may reform the judgment to reflect a lesser-included
offense only when the jury is instructed on the lesser-included offense
or one of the parties asked for but was denied such an instruction.
Allowing reformation without requesting a charge or charging the jury
would allow the State to rescue a trial strategy that overreaches by
obtaining a conviction for the greater offense.
Haynes v. State, PD-1923-06 .