Melvin Charles Sweed, Jr., Appellant v. the State of Texas

Summary

The Court held that the trial court erred by refusing to give the jury a lesser‑included‑offense instruction on theft because the record contained more than a scintilla of evidence supporting that instruction, and therefore reversed the appellate court's judgment and remanded for a harm analysis. The Court also noted, in a concurring opinion, that aggravated assault is likewise a lesser‑included offense of aggravated robbery and should have been instructed. A dissent had argued the opposite view on the timing of the assault.