State v. Gatlin
Annotate this CaseDefendant Kevin Gatlin was convicted by a jury of intentional aggravated battery causing disfigurement after biting off the tip of another man's thumb in a bar fight. On appeal to the court of appeals, the panel ruled that Gatlin failed to preserve the issue of failure to instruct on recklessness-based lesser included offenses. Gatlin appealed, arguing that the district court erred by failing to give two specific lesser included offense instructions, one for reckless aggravated battery that did cause disfigurement or great bodily harm and one for reckless aggravated battery that could have caused disfigurement or great bodily harm. The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals, reversed Gatlin's conviction, and remanded, holding (1) that the issue was properly preserved for appeal, and therefore, the appellate court applied an incorrect standard of review, and (2) that the district court committed reversible error in refusing to instruct on the definition of recklessness and the recklessness-based lesser included offenses sought by Gatlin and his counsel.
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