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People v. Burgess

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Feb 19, 1991
170 A.D.2d 614 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)

Opinion

February 19, 1991

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Murray, J.).


Ordered that the judgment is reversed, on the law, and a new trial is ordered. No questions of fact have been raised or considered.

At trial the defendant testified that he had not been advised of his Miranda rights, that he was physically abused by the detectives who questioned him, that he was not permitted to contact his family, that the detectives ignored his requests for an attorney, and that after being threatened, he signed a written statement and gave a videotaped confession to an Assistant District Attorney.

The trial court's refusal to instruct the jury on the issue of the voluntariness of the defendant's statements necessitates a new trial (see, People v Sutton, 122 A.D.2d 896; see also, People v Graham, 55 N.Y.2d 144). As we held in People v Sutton (supra), which was an appeal taken by a codefendant who was tried jointly with the defendant, the contents of the statements were important because the People relied upon them in order to prove that the defendant and his codefendants possessed the requisite intent to commit the crimes charged. Accordingly, the trial court's failure to so instruct the jury cannot be considered harmless.

Additionally, we note that the trial court's instruction regarding mental culpability was improper (see, People v Sutton, supra).

We have considered the defendant's remaining contentions and find that they are either without merit, unpreserved for appellate review, or academic in light of our determination. Lawrence, J.P., Harwood, Balletta and Rosenblatt, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Burgess

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Feb 19, 1991
170 A.D.2d 614 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)
Case details for

People v. Burgess

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. MICHAEL BURGESS…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Feb 19, 1991

Citations

170 A.D.2d 614 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)
566 N.Y.S.2d 389