Justia Civil Rights Opinion Summaries

Defendant was convicted of second degree murder upon evidence that he killed his fiancee by inflicting numerous knife wounds. Although Defendant had sought to interpose the affirmative defense that his homicidal acts had been committed under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance for which there was a reasonable explanation or excuse, and upon that theory to afford the jury the option of returning a verdict of manslaughter in the first degree instead of murder, the trial court refused to charge the defense, deeming the charge unwarranted absent proof that Defendant suffered from an underlying "mental infirmity." The appellate division affirmed, concluding that Defendant's conduct before, during and after the offense was inconsistent with the loss of self-control associated with the defense. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the charge should have been given, as the evidence would have permitted Defendant's jury reasonably to conclude by a preponderance of the evidence that, at the time of the homicide, he was affected by an extreme emotional disturbance, and that the disturbance was supported by a reasonable explanation or excuse rooted in the situation as he perceived it.

In Soundview Park in the Bronx, a New York City police officer observed a knife on Defendant's person and seized it while issuing Defendant a summons for trespass and questioning him about his presence in the park after hours. The knife turned out to be a gravity knife, and Defendant was charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree. Defendant moved to suppress the knife as the fruit of an unlawful search and seizure. The Supreme Court granted the motion on the ground that, at the time the officer took the knife, he lacked probable cause to believe that Defendant had committed a crime. The appellate court reversed. The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that under these circumstances, it was reasonable for the officer to retrieve the knife and make an arrest when the knife turned out to be unlawful.

Plaintiffs commenced this hybrid declaratory judgment action/article 78 proceeding, seeking a declaration that the implementation of Local Law No. 3-2011 in relation to the November 8, 2011 general election was null and void for lack of compliance with the Nassau County Charter. At issue was whether the metes and bounds descriptions in Local Law No. 3-2011 applied to the 2011 general election or whether they were the first part of a three-step process to take effect in 2013. The court held that Supreme Court properly declared that Local Law No. 3-2011 was in accord with Nassau County Charter 112, but that its implementation was null and void in connection with the November 8, 2011 general election for lack of compliance with Nassau County Charter 113 and 114. Accordingly, the order of the Appellate Division, insofar as appealed from, should be reversed, without costs, and the order and judgment of Supreme Court reinstated.