State v. Samir Kevin Shank

Syllabus

This criminal appeal arises from a traffic stop in which Samir Kevin Shank, while attempting to evade law enforcement in a stolen vehicle, reversed that vehicle, causing the open passenger-side door to collide with a pursuing officer's open vehicle door and knock the officer to the ground. Shank was indicted and tried for, among other offenses, Assault and Battery of a High and Aggravated Nature. At trial Shank requested a lesser-included offense charge on Third-Degree Assault and Battery. The trial court denied the request, and the jury found Shank guilty as indicted. The Court of appeals reversed in an unpublished opinion. State v. Shank, Op. No. 2025-UP-114 (Ct. App. filed April 2, 2025). We granted the State's petition for a writ of certiorari to decide whether the court of appeals erred in reversing Shank's conviction on the ground that the trial court committed reversible error by refusing to charge the jury on Third-Degree Assault and Battery as a lesser-included offense of ABHAN. We reverse.