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Criminal Law Keyed to Kennedy
People v. Goetz
Citation:
68 N.Y.2d 96 (1986)
ProfessorScott Caron
CaseCast™ – "What you need to know"
Facts
On December 22, 1984, four youths boarded an express subway train in the Bronx. The defendant sat down on a bench towards the rear section of the same car occupied by the four youths. One approached the defendant, and stated “give me five dollars.” None of the youth displayed a weapon. The defendant responded by standing up, pulling out his handgun, and firing four shots. Three of the youths were hit. After the defendant briefly surveyed the scene around him, he fired another bullet at the youth who was missed. They all survived.
The defendant surrendered to police. He said that the four youth tried to rob them and that is why he shot them all. At the grand jury hearing, the prosecutor instructed the jury that they should consider whether the defense of justification applies by determining “whether the defendant’s conduct was that of a reasonable man in the defendant’s situation.” The defendant was indicted for attempted murder.
The lower court dismissed the charge, holding that it was an error to not permit the jury to consider the situation from the defendant’s perspective.
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Topic Resources
9m 57sTopic Outline 
Topic Refresher Course 