Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1978

People v. Cohen

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York · Decided March 16, 1978

61 A.D.2d 929; 403 N.Y.S.2d 17; 1978 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 10519

Cases that cite this one

11 later published cases cite this decision.

People v. Johnson (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2004)
People v. Ramos (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1996)
People v. Stinson (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1992)
People v. Lattimore (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1991)
People v. Lewis (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1990)
People v. Cheeley (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1989)
People v. Wade (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1984)
People v. Webb (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1983)
People v. Melville (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1982)
People v. Fox (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1980)
People v. Turrell (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1978)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

Judgment of the Supreme Court, New York County, rendered June 11, 1976, convicting defendant of the crime of robbery in the second degree and sentencing her to an indeterminate term not to exceed three years, unanimously affirmed. We note, however, that the Trial Justice, in charging the jury, gave the following instruction: "On the other hand, if the scales are even, or if you do have reasonable doubt arising out of the credible evidence or the lack of it, then you must render a verdict of not guilty”. The figure of speech, "if the scales are even” was, most likely, unwittingly uttered. In our view, the use of such a phrase, while popular in courts of an earlier year, does not facilitate the resolution of the issues before the jury in a criminal case. We find, nevertheless, from a reading of the entire charge, that the court instructed the jury correctly on the burden of proof and in all other respects. Concur—Birns, J. P., Silverman, Evans, Fein and Sandler, JJ.

Case-law data current through September 30, 2026. Source: CourtListener bulk data.