You are here: / / Defendant Entitled to Jury Charge on Extreme Emotional Disturbance Despite...

Defendant Entitled to Jury Charge on Extreme Emotional Disturbance Despite Lack of CPL 250.10 Notice

In a full-fledged opinion by Judge Abdus-Salaam, the Court of Appeals determined the defendant’s request for an “extreme emotional disturbance” jury charge should have been granted, in spite of the defendant’s withdrawing his CPL 250.10 notice re:  offering mental health evidence. At trial the defendant did not introduce any evidence of or cross-examine any witness about the defendant’s mental state. The evidence of defendant’s mental state was contained in defendant’s videotaped confession, which was presented at trial by the People. Because the CPL 250.10 notice concerns only mental-state evidence “offered” by the defendant, the absence of the notice did not preclude the extreme-emotional-disturbance jury charge:

A defendant is entitled to a jury charge on EED where the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the defendant, is sufficient for the jury “to find by a preponderance of the evidence that the elements of the affirmative defense are satisfied” … . Accordingly, the trial court must grant the defendant's request for an EED charge if the jury could reasonably conclude from the evidence that, at the time of the homicide, the defendant “was affected by an extreme emotional disturbance, and that [the] disturbance was supported by a reasonable explanation or excuse rooted in the situation as he perceived it” … . This is true even if the “[d]efendant did not testify or otherwise present evidence” and the “request for an extreme emotional disturbance charge [i]s based entirely on proof elicited during the People's case” … . * * *

In its present form, CPL 250.10 requires notice when a defendant “inten[ds] to present psychiatric evidence” … , which the statute broadly defines as “[e]vidence of mental disease or defect to be offered by the defendant in connection with the affirmative defense of,” as relevant to this appeal, “extreme emotional disturbance” … . The Legislature did not specify what qualifies as mental health evidence “offered by the defendant”; however, to “offer evidence,” as that legal phrase is traditionally understood, means to put forth evidence and “demand its admission” (Black's Law Dictionary 1081 [6th ed 1991]; see Black's Law Dictionary [9th ed 2009], proffer [“To offer or tender (something, esp. evidence) for immediate acceptance”]). Additionally, the frequently used meaning of “present” is “to bring or introduce into the presence of someone” (MerriamWebster's Collegiate Dictionary 982 [11th ed 2003]). The Legislature's use of these “active” terms suggests that it intended the notice requirement to apply where the defendant affirmatively seeks to admit psychiatric evidence in support of an EED defense. People v Gonzalez, 12, CtApp 2-13-14

 

You might also like
THE JUDGE COMMITTED A MODE OF PROCEEDINGS ERROR BY FAILING TO ACCURATELY AND FULLY INFORM THE DEFENDANT OF THE CONTENTS OF A JURY NOTE (CT APP).
JUDGE’S RESPONSE TO JURY NOTE ALLOWED JURY TO CONSIDER EVIDENCE OF ACTIONS NOT CHARGED IN THE INDICTMENT, CONVICTION REVERSED AND INDICTMENT DISMISSED.
THE JURY NOTE REQUESTED THE “DEFINITIONS” OF THE CHARGED OFFENSES; DEFENSE COUNSEL ASKED THE JUDGE TO ALSO REREAD THE JUSTIFICATION INSTRUCTION IN THIS MURDER CASE; THE JUDGE REFUSED; BECAUSE THE JURY’S NOTE WAS SPECIFIC AND DID NOT REQUEST THE JUSTIFICATION INSTRUCTION, THE JUDGE PROPERLY DENIED DEFENSE COUNSEL’S REQUEST (CT APP).
Moratorium on Fracking Did Not Extend Oil and Gas Leases Beyond the Primary Five-Year Term
NO OUT-OF-POCKET LOSS ALLEGED, FRAUDULENT INDUCEMENT CAUSE OF ACTION PROPERLY DISMISSED FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CAUSE OF ACTION.
Error in Grand Jury Presentation Did Not Raise a Question of Prejudice Sufficient to Justify Dismissal of the Indictment
PETITIONER NOT ENTITLED TO COUNSEL IN A STATEWIDE CENTRAL REGISTER OF CHILD ABUSE AND MALTREATMENT (SCR) PROCEEDING; THE STATUTE REQURING EXPUNGEMENT OF AN SCR CHILD MALTREATMENT REPORT IF THE RELATED FAMILY COURT CASE IS DISMISSED DOES NOT APPLY RETROACTIVELY; THE MALTREATMENT REPORT WAS SUPPORTED BY THE EVIDENCE (CT APP).
A LOAN AGREEMENT WHICH ALLOWS THE LENDER TO CONVERT THE BALANCE TO SHARES OF STOCK AT A FIXED DISCOUNT CAN VIOLATE THE USURY STATUTE, WHICH WOULD THEREBY RENDER THE AGREEMENT VOID AB INITIO (CT APP).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

Family Court Should Have Granted an Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal... No Constitutional Right to a Sua Sponte Inquiry Into Defendant’s Mental Health...