Jury Instruction Reversed Burden of Proof—New Trial Ordered

The Third Department determined defendant’s conviction must be reversed because the trial court’s instruction to the jury reversed the burden of proof.  The defendant was accused of killing a pit bull in violation of Agriculture and Markets Law  353(a)(1):

….[D]efendant contends that County Court erred in rendering a supplemental jury instruction that effectively shifted the burden of proof to defendant to prove his own innocence. While defendant failed to preserve this issue through an appropriate objection, given the nature of the challenged instruction, we exercise our interest of justice jurisdiction to take corrective action … . Without question, the People bear the burden of proving a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and County Court so charged the jury twice before giving the instruction at issue. After receiving a further note from the jury requesting definitions for certain terms, including “depraved” and “sadistic,” the court determined that it would “be beneficial . . . to once again go over the definition of aggravated cruelty.” In doing so, however, the court advised the jury: “Thus, if you find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not engage in conduct which caused the animal extreme pain or which was not done or carried out in an especially depraved or sadistic manner, you must find the defendant not guilty.” This charge impermissibly shifted the burden of proof by suggesting that defendant needed to prove his innocence beyond a reasonable doubt. Compounding the problem, the charge was rendered shortly before the jury rendered the guilty verdict. In our view, this was a fundamental error, requiring the reversal of the judgment and a new trial … . People v Facey, 2015 NY Slip Op 02810, 3rd Dept 4-2-15