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BOTH THE GRAND JURY AND THE TRIAL JURY SHOULD HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED ON THE DEFENSE OF INNOCENT POSSESSION OF A WEAPON, INDICTMENT DISMISSED.

The Fourth Department determined the both the grand jury and the trial jury should have been instructed on the defense of innocent possession of a weapon. The indictment was dismissed:

We agree with defendant … that reversal is required because Supreme Court erred in denying his request for a jury instruction on the defense of temporary innocent possession of the handgun. In order for a defendant to be entitled to such an instruction, “there must be proof in the record showing a legal excuse for having the weapon in [one’s] possession as well as facts tending to establish that, once possession [was] obtained, the weapon [was not] used in a dangerous manner” … . Here, there were such facts. Defendant testified that he briefly struggled with a man who threatened him with a gun in front of his wife’s residence and, in the struggle, the gun fell to the ground. According to defendant’s testimony, after the assailant fled the scene, defendant picked up the gun from the street and immediately handed it to his wife, who then brought it into the home and hid it in the bedroom. * * *

We agree with defendant that the integrity of the grand jury proceeding was impaired, and we thus dismiss the two counts of the indictment of which defendant was convicted, without prejudice to the People to re-present any appropriate charges under those counts to another grand jury … . The prosecutor is required to instruct the grand jury on the law with respect to matters before it … . If the prosecutor fails to instruct the grand jury on a defense that would eliminate a needless or unfounded prosecution, the proceeding is defective, mandating dismissal of the indictment … . People v Graham, 2017 NY Slip Op 02175, 4th Dept 3-24-17

 

CRIMINAL LAW (BOTH THE GRAND JURY AND THE TRIAL JURY SHOULD HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED ON THE DEFENSE OF INNOCENT POSSESSION OF A WEAPON, INDICTMENT DISMISSED)/WEAPON, POSSESSION (BOTH THE GRAND JURY AND THE TRIAL JURY SHOULD HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED ON THE DEFENSE OF INNOCENT POSSESSION OF A WEAPON, INDICTMENT DISMISSED)/GRAND JURY (BOTH THE GRAND JURY AND THE TRIAL JURY SHOULD HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED ON THE DEFENSE OF INNOCENT POSSESSION OF A WEAPON, INDICTMENT DISMISSED)/DEFENSES (CRIMINAL LAW, BOTH THE GRAND JURY AND THE TRIAL JURY SHOULD HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED ON THE DEFENSE OF INNOCENT POSSESSION OF A WEAPON, INDICTMENT DISMISSED)

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