Background

• Appellee Mark Meru was convicted of burglary of a habitation and sentenced to 25 years.
• Meru moved for a new trial arguing the court erred by not giving a jury instruction on criminal trespass as a lesser-included offense.
• The trial court granted the new trial on that basis, prompting State review.
• Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s grant based on error in failing to instruct on trespass.
• Texas Supreme Court granted discretionary review to decide if trespass can be a lesser-included offense of burglary.
• Majority held that, under the indictment, criminal trespass is not a lesser-included offense of burglary.

Issues

Key Cases Cited

• Goad v. State, 354 S.W.3d 443 (Tex.Crim.App.2011) (trespass can be a lesser-included offense of burglary in some contexts)
• Aguilar v. State, 682 S.W.2d 556 (Tex.Crim.App.1985) (historical view of trespass as related to burglary)
• Day v. State, 532 S.W.2d 302 (Tex.Crim.App.1975) (notice element can be deduced from burglary)
• Hall v. State, 225 S.W.3d 524 (Tex.Crim.App.2007) (cognate-pleadings and first-step analysis for lesser-included offenses)
• Rice v. State, 333 S.W.3d 140 (Tex.Crim.App.2011) (exemplifies functional-equivalence approach in pleadings)
• Watson, 306 S.W.3d 259 (Tex.Crim.App.2009) (indictment can deduce lesser offenses via functional equivalence)
• Salazar v. State, 284 S.W.3d 874 (Tex.Crim.App.2009) (notice inferred from habitation in burglary-trespass analysis)
• Bartholomew v. State, 871 S.W.2d 210 (Tex.Crim.App.1994) (indirect comparison of elements in lesser-included analysis)
• Marrs v. State, 647 S.W.2d 286 (Tex.Crim.App.1983) (indictment sufficiency and notice considerations in entry cases)
• Cavazos v. State, 382 S.W.3d 377 (Tex.Crim.App.2012) (functional-equivalence concept in broader context)