People v. Santos
Opinion of the Court
—Appeal by the
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
The defendant contends that the trial court’s justification charge was improper because the objective portion of the charge failed to properly instruct the jurors. This claim is unpreserved for appellate review, as the defendant failed to object to the charge as given or to request a supplemental charge (see, People v Gurganious, 214 AD2d 681; People v Noor, 177 AD2d 517). In any event, the contention is without merit. The trial court properly instructed the jury that it could find that the defendant was justified if it found that he reasonably believed that the victim was using or was about to use deadly physical force against him (see, Penal Law § 35.15 [2] [a]) and if so, to then consider whether the average person would have had the same belief under the same circumstances (see, People v Bernard, 222 AD2d 599). Krausman, J. P., S. Miller, Luciano and Feuerstein, JJ., concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.