You are here: / / ALTHOUGH THE TRIAL COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION BY ALLOWING A VIOLENT COURTROOM...
,

ALTHOUGH THE TRIAL COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION BY ALLOWING A VIOLENT COURTROOM SCENE IN A MOVIE TO BE PLAYED FOR THE JURY BECAUSE THE DEFENDANT HAD QUOTED DIALOGUE FROM IT, THE ERROR WAS HARMLESS; THE DISSENT ARGUED IT WAS NOT HARMLESS ERROR (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department determined it was harmless error to allow the prosecutor in this murder case to show part of a movie from which the defendant had posted dialogue. The dissent argued the error was not harmless:

… [T]he court abused its discretion when it permitted the prosecutor to play for the jury a scene from the film, The Boondock Saints. The scene takes place inside a courtroom, where the protagonists threaten everyone with pistols. Some people in the scene, presumably those playing the jurors, watch in astonishment while ducking for cover. The protagonists make loud, self-aggrandizing statements, declaring themselves vigilantes tasked by God with bringing justice to the world (e.g. “Each day we will spill their blood till it rains down from the sky!”). For those who do not behave morally, the protagonists offer a message: “One day you will look behind you and you will see we three . . . and we will send you to whichever God you wish.” The protagonists put their guns to the back of the defendant’s head while he is knelt on the floor in an execution-style pose. Gunfire erupts, and everyone runs out of the courthouse screaming.

The prosecutor’s ostensible reason for playing that particular scene was to rebut defendant’s testimony that he was coerced by his accomplice into participating in the murder and subsequently lying to the police. The relevance of that scene is that defendant posted quotations from it on social media two days after the victim’s murder and one day before he gave the allegedly coerced statement to the police. …

Because the probative value of the scene from The Boondock Saints video was substantially outweighed by the danger that its admission would prejudice defendant or mislead the jury, the court abused its discretion in admitting it … . People v Horn, 2020 NY Slip Op 04712, Fourth Dept 8-20-20

 

You might also like
PETITIONER DID NOT COME FORWARD WITH SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE TO OVERCOME THE PRESUMPTION THAT THE REAL PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENT WAS VALID.
DEFENDANT WAS NOT IN CUSTODY WHEN HE WAS ASKED POINTED QUESTIONS, NO MIRANDA WARNING REQUIRED; POLICE OFFICER’S SUBJECTIVE BELIEF DEFENDANT WAS NOT FREE TO LEAVE IS IRRELEVANT; RAPE FIRST IS AN INCLUSORY CONCURRENT COUNT OF PREDATORY SEXUAL ASSAULT (FOURTH DEPT).
Homeowners’ Association Had Power to Direct Property Owners to Remove Chickens
ALTHOUGH THE ARTICLE 78 PETITION WAS VERIFIED BY AN ATTORNEY, THE VERIFICATION WAS VALID BECAUSE THE ATTORNEY HAD FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE OF THE FACTS; IN ADDITION, ANY DEFECTS IN THE VERIFICATION WERE WAIVED BY RESPONDENTS; PRIOR ARBITRATION PURSUANT TO THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT WAS NOT AN OBSTACLE TO THE PETITION ALLEGING A VIOLATION OF THE EDUCATION LAW CONCERNING THE SUSPENSION OF A SCHOOL PRINCIPAL (FOURTH DEPT).
AFTER APPEAL AND REMITTAL, DEFENDANT WAS ENTITLED TO PUT ON A DEFENSE AFTER THE MOTION FOR A TRIAL ORDER OF DISMISSAL WAS DENIED; PRIOR TO THE APPEAL THE VERDICT HAD BEEN PREMATURELY ANNOUNCED WITHOUT ANY RULING ON THE TRIAL ORDER OF DISMISSAL MOTION.
PROSECUTOR ADMONISHED FOR MISCONDUCT, CONVICTION AFFIRMED BECAUSE THE JURY WAS PROPERLY INSTRUCTED AND THE EVIDENCE OF GUILT WAS OVERWHELMING.
DUE TO NEGLIGENCE BY A TIRE SHOP WHICH CONCEDED LIABILITY, A WHEEL FLEW OFF DEFENDANT’S CAR AND STRUCK PLAINTIFF’S CAR, DEFENDANT-DRIVER’S CROSS MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT PROPERLY DENIED.
DEFENDANT COMPLAINED THAT HIS ATTORNEY HAD NOT FILED OMNIBUS MOTIONS BUT DEFENSE COUNSEL SAID HE HAD FILED THEM AND THE COURT SAID IT HAD RECEIVED THEM; IN FACT, HOWEVER NO MOTIONS HAD BEEN FILED; DEFENDANT’S COMPLAINTS ABOUT HIS ASSIGNED COUNSEL WARRANTED FURTHER INQUIRY BY THE COURT; DEFENDANT WAS DEPRIVED OF HIS RIGHT TO COUNSEL, NEW TRIAL ORDERED (FOURTH DEPT).

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

TREE-CUTTING IS A COVERED ACTIVITY PURSUANT TO LABOR LAW 240 (1) AND 241 (6)... THE JURY FOUND THE DEFENDANT SEX OFFENDER DID NOT SUFFER FROM A MENTAL ABNORMALITY...