Grand Jury Testimony
As this decision was issued prior to a final disposition in the case, the facts presented here were still in dispute and the Court summarized the testimony given before the Grand Jury. On December 22, 1984, four young black men (Troy Canty, Darryl Cabey, James Ramseur, and Barry Allen) boarded a subway car in the Bronx. Two of the men were carrying screwdrivers in their coats, which they later admitted were planned to be used to break into arcade game coin boxes.
Bernhard Goetz boarded the train in Manhattan, and sat near the four men. He was carrying an unlicensed .38 caliber pistol on a waistband holster, which was loaded with five rounds of ammunition.
Canty approached Goetz and told him to give them five dollars. At this point, Goetz stood up, unholstered his pistol, and quickly fired four shots. Three of the men were hit, while Cabey was not struck. Goetz then fired another shot at Cabey, severing his spinal cord.
Goetz fled the scene and on December 31 surrendered himself to the police in New Hampshire. He gave two lengthy statements to the police. Goetz admitted to carrying an unlicensed pistol in New York since 1981, which he purchased after he was injured during a mugging. Goetz stated that when he was approached by the men on December 22, he could tell that they wanted to "play with me". Although he did not believe any of the men were armed, he stated that he feared that he would be "maimed". Goetz established a "pattern of fire," firing from left to right. He admitted to shooting Cabey with his last bullet after the initial barrage.
Read more about this topic: People V. Goetz
Famous quotes containing the words grand, jury and/or testimony:
“The grand style is available now only in old poems, museums, and parodies.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“To throw obstacles in the way of a complete education is like putting out the eyes; to deny the rights of property is like cutting off the hands. To refuse political equality is like robbing the ostracized of all self-respect, of credit in the market place, of recompense in the world of work, of a voice in choosing those who make and administer the law, a choice in the jury before whom they are tried, and in the judge who decides their punishment.”
—Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902)
“I have been too long acquainted with human nature to have great regard for human testimony; and a very great degree of probability, supported by various concurrent circumstances, conspiring in one point, will have much greater weight with me, than human testimony upon oath, or even upon honour; both of which I have frequently seen considerably warped by private views.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)