History
The case, defended by Barry Slotnick, was presented to a Grand Jury, which returned an indictment on January 25, 1985, charging Goetz with one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree, and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree. The Grand Jury dismissed charges of Attempted Murder, Assault, and Reckless Endangerment.
The prosecutor later sought permission from the court to resubmit the case to another Grand Jury with additional evidence. On March 27, 1985, the second Grand Jury returned an indictment charging Goetz with four counts of Attempted Murder, four counts of Assault, one count of Reckless Endangerment, and one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree. This indictment was consolidated with the prior indictment.
On October 14, 1985, Goetz moved to dismiss the second indictment, claiming that the prosecutor's instructions with respect to the issue of justification were erroneous and prejudicial. While the motion was pending, a columnist with the New York Daily News interviewed Cabey in the hospital. Cabey told the columnist that the men had approached Goetz with the intention of robbing him. The following day, one of the first police officers on the scene informed the prosecutor that Cabey had admitted to him that the men intended to rob Goetz. The prosecutor informed the court and defendant about this communication. Goetz then expanded his motion to dismiss to include the claim that Ramseur and Canty, who had testified before the Grand Jury, must have committed perjury.
On January 21, 1986, the Criminal Term court granted the defendant's motion to dismiss with respect to all counts except for the Reckless Endangerment charge, with leave to represent to a third Grand Jury. The reasoning by the court was that the prosecutor, when charging the Grand Jury with respect to the justification defense, incorrectly told the Grand Jury that they must consider whether Goetz's actions were those of a "reasonable man in situation". The court held that this charge created an objective test of Goetz's beliefs. The court held that the test for whether the use of deadly force is justified should be entirely subjective, focused on the defendant's state of mind at the time of the incident. An additional reason given by the court for dismissal was that it was extremely likely that the Grand Jury based their decision on perjured testimony, pursuant to the Daily News article and the subsequent statement by the police officer.
On April 17, 1986, the Appellate Division affirmed the decision of the lower court, prompting the appeal to the New York Court of Appeals.
Read more about this topic: People V. Goetz
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