Skip to main content

Merger doctrine

In criminal law, if a defendant commits a single act that simultaneously fulfills the definition of two separate offenses, merger will occur. This means that the lesser of the two offences will drop out, and the defendant will only be charged with the greater offense.  This prevents double jeopardy problems from arising.

See Merger (for other uses of the term).

 

 

 Intending kill Al, Bob points a gun at him and pulls the trigger.  Al is hit and dies.  Bob's actions fulfill all the elements of a number of crimes, including assault, battery, attempted murder and murder.  However, because of the merger doctrine, Bob is only charged with the most serious of those crimes, murder.