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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE
AT KNOXVILLE

STATE OF TENNESSEE. v. WARREN TYRONE FOWLER
An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Jefferson County
No. 6047 Rex Henry Ogle, Judge

No. E1997-00037-SC-R11-CD - Decided June 20, 2000
FOR PUBLICATION

This is an appeal from the Circuit Court for Jefferson County which convicted the defendant of felony vandalism, two counts of aggravated assault, and felony evading arrest.  The defendant appealed and argued that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury on facilitation of a felony as a lesser-included offense of criminal responsibility.  The Court of Criminal Appeals held that because a defendant is criminally responsible for any offenses committed by codefendants in the pursuance of a criminal offense or as a natural and probable consequence thereof, facilitation is not a lesser-included offense as a matter of law.  We hold that facilitation of a felony is a lesser-included offense but that an instruction was not warranted under the facts of this case.  Accordingly, we affirm the judgments of the Court of Criminal Appeals and the trial court.

Tenn. R. App. P. 11; Judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals Affirmed
ANDERSON, C.J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which DROWOTA, BIRCH, AND HOLDER, JJ., and BYERS, SP. J., joined.  
Edward C. Miller, Public Defender, Dandridge, Tennessee, for the appellant, Warren Tyrone Fowler.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter and Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General and Gordon W. Smith, Associate Solicitor General and Ellen H. Pollack, Assistant Attorney General Nashville, Tennessee (On Appeal), and Al C. Schmutzer, Jr., District Attorney General, Sevierville, Tennessee, and James L. Gass, Assistant District Attorney General, Dandridge, Tennessee (At Trial), for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

OPINION
We granted this appeal to determine whether the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury on t he o ffen se o f fac ili tat ion of a f elo ny.
The defendant, Warren Tyrone Fowler, was convicted of felony vandalism, two counts of aggravated assault, and felony evading arrest.  The convictions were based on the defendant

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Tennessee Law