You are here: / / THE JURY’S FINDING THAT DEFENDANT’S ACTIONS IN THIS MANSLAUGHTER...
,

THE JURY’S FINDING THAT DEFENDANT’S ACTIONS IN THIS MANSLAUGHTER CASE WERE NOT JUSTIFIED WAS AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE, CONVICTION REVERSED AND INDICTMENT DISMISSED 4TH DEPT.

The Fourth Department, reversing defendant’s conviction and dismissing the indictment, over a two-justice dissent, determined the conviction was against the weight of the evidence. Defendant raised the justification defense in this manslaughter case. Once the defense was raised, the People were required to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, the defendant’s act was not justified. The Fourth Department held that the jury’s finding the defendant’s act was not justified was against the weight of the evidence:

… [T]he People were required to prove either that defendant lacked a subjective belief that her use of deadly physical force was necessary to protect herself against decedent’s use or imminent use of deadly physical force, or that “a reasonable person in the same situation would not have perceived that deadly force was necessary”… . Although the jury found that the People met that burden, we conclude, upon our independent assessment of the proof… , that the jury “failed to give the evidence the weight it should be accorded”… . Defendant’s statements at the scene and in her police interview evinced a belief that deadly force was necessary to protect her from decedent, and we conclude that the People did not demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that her belief was objectively unreasonable. Instead, the credible evidence established that decedent was in a drunken rage during a heated argument with defendant, that he had threatened “trouble” if the police came, that he had repeatedly forced open doors in the course of pursuing defendant through the apartment, that he was not deterred even when she armed herself with a knife, that he had cornered her in the bathroom and pulled her hair, and that he had grabbed her by the hair to prevent her from leaving the bathroom just before she stabbed him. Under those circumstances, we conclude that the People failed to meet their burden of establishing that defendant lacked a reasonable belief that decedent was about to use deadly physical force against her, even though decedent was not armed … . In other words, this is not a case in which the force employed by defendant ” exceeded that which was necessary to defend [herself]’ ” … . People v Marchant, 2017 NY Slip Op 05918, 4th Dept 7-27-17

CRIMINAL LAW (JUSTIFICATION DEFENSE, THE JURY’S FINDING THAT DEFENDANT’S ACTIONS IN THIS MANSLAUGHTER CASE WERE NOT JUSTIFIED WAS AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE, CONVICTION REVERSED AND INDICTMENT DISMISSED 4TH DEPT)/EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, JUSTIFICATION DEFENSE, THE JURY’S FINDING THAT DEFENDANT’S ACTIONS IN THIS MANSLAUGHTER CASE WERE NOT JUSTIFIED WAS AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE, CONVICTION REVERSED AND INDICTMENT DISMISSED 4TH DEPT)/JUSTIFICATION DEFENSE (MANSLAUGHTER,  THE JURY’S FINDING THAT DEFENDANT’S ACTIONS IN THIS MANSLAUGHTER CASE WERE NOT JUSTIFIED WAS AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE, CONVICTION REVERSED AND INDICTMENT DISMISSED 4TH DEPT)

You might also like
Tenant In “Adjacent Property” May Be Responsible for Maintenance of a Sidewalk Where the Sidewalk is Subject to Special Use by the Tenant as Part of a Driveway
Court Should Not Have Deferred, Over Defense Counsel’s Objection, to Defendant’s Request that the Jury Not Be Charged on a Lesser Included Offense—To Do So Denies Defendant His Right to the Expert Judgment of Counsel
Defendant Failed to Meet Its Burden on Its Summary Judgment Motion—Not Enough to Point to Deficiencies in Plaintiff’s Proof
Termination for Insubordination Proper
No Assets Left to Distribute—Disposition of a Painting Which Was Part of the Estate and Had Been Donated to a Museum Could Be Protected by the Attorney General (Charged with Protecting the Donor’s Wishes)–No Need to Issue Letters of Administration to Petitioner to Ensure Proper Use of the Painting
Labor Law 200 Cause of Action Requires Supervisory Control Over How Plaintiff Carries Out the Injury-Producing Work
ALTHOUGH THE DRIVER WAS INTOXICATED AND WAS DRIVING AT HIGH SPEED, DEFENDANT MUNICIPALITY DID NOT DEMONSTRATE THE FAILURE TO CLOSE THE PARK GATE AND THE FAILURE TO PROVIDE SPEED LIMIT AND ROAD-CURVE SIGNS DID NOT CONSTITUTE NEGLIGENCE, DEFENDANT’S SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FOURTH DEPT).
PETITION SEEKING MEDICAL ASSISTANCE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DENIED BASED UPON THE INABILITY TO DETERMINE THE FINANCIAL RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO THE NURSING HOME RESIDENT’S ESTRANGED WIFE, COURT MAY NOT CONSIDER THEORY NOT RAISED BEFORE THE AGENCY (FOURTH DEPT).

Categories

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

Copyright © 2023 New York Appellate Digest, LLC
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

HOMEOWNERS’ REBUTTED THE PRESUMPTION THAT THE TAX ASSESSMENT OF THEIR... BECAUSE THE PEOPLE PROVIDED NO INFORMATION ABOUT THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF DEFENDANT’S...