From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

People v. Wofford

Court of Appeals of the State of New York
Mar 20, 1979
388 N.E.2d 735 (N.Y. 1979)

Opinion

Argued February 8, 1979

Decided March 20, 1979

Appeal from the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the Second Judicial Department, WILLIAM C. THOMPSON, J.

Henry Winestine and William E. Hellerstein for appellant.

Eugene Gold, District Attorney (Michael Gore of counsel), for respondent.


MEMORANDUM.

The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed.

In this concededly tragic case, recognizing the very limited scope of appellate review in our court, we cannot conclude that the determination of the suppression court, now affirmed at the Appellate Division, that appellant knowingly and intelligently waived his constitutional preinterrogation rights, was erroneous as a matter of law. Nor can we conclude as a matter of law either that the trial court applied the incorrect standard of criminal responsibility or that appellant's criminal responsibility was not proved beyond a reasonable doubt, notwithstanding the presence in the record of considerable evidence that appellant may have lacked substantial capacity to know or appreciate the nature and consequences of his conduct and that such conduct was wrong. (Penal Law, § 30.05.)

Chief Judge COOKE and Judges JASEN, GABRIELLI, JONES, WACHTLER and FUCHSBERG concur.

Order affirmed in a memorandum.


Summaries of

People v. Wofford

Court of Appeals of the State of New York
Mar 20, 1979
388 N.E.2d 735 (N.Y. 1979)
Case details for

People v. Wofford

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. ROBERT J. WOFFORD…

Court:Court of Appeals of the State of New York

Date published: Mar 20, 1979

Citations

388 N.E.2d 735 (N.Y. 1979)
388 N.E.2d 735
415 N.Y.S.2d 411

Citing Cases

People v. Schiavi

Rather, they relied solely upon the presumption of sanity and the testimony of Investigator John Allen, of…

People v. Roldan

Defendant held three people hostage in an apartment building lobby by threatening them with a large knife…