## Facts

- Four youths boarded a Bronx-bound IRT express train; two had screwdrivers concealed in their coats.
- Bernhard Goetz boarded the same subway car in Manhattan carrying an unlicensed, loaded .38 caliber revolver.
- One youth approached Goetz and asked for money; none of the youths displayed a weapon.
- Goetz stood, drew his handgun, and fired four shots in rapid succession, striking three of the youths and missing a fourth.
- Goetz then fired a fifth shot at one youth, causing a spinal cord injury and paralysis.
- Goetz fled New York and later surrendered to police in New Hampshire.
- An initial grand jury returned only weapons-possession charges; a second grand jury later indicted Goetz for attempted murder, assault, and related charges, plus weapon possession.
- The trial court dismissed the attempted murder, assault, and weapons-possession counts based on alleged errors in the prosecutor’s grand-jury instruction on justification; the Appellate Division affirmed.

## Issues

1. Whether New York Penal Law § 35.15’s “reasonably believes” requirement for deadly-force justification is purely subjective or includes an objective reasonableness component.
2. Whether the prosecutor’s grand-jury instruction on justification was erroneous such that the indictment had to be dismissed.
3. Whether later-discovered hearsay impeaching or conflicting with grand-jury proof required dismissal despite otherwise sufficient evidence.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal and reinstated all counts of the indictment.
- The court held § 35.15 requires a hybrid standard: the defendant must actually believe deadly force is necessary, and that belief must be objectively reasonable.
- The court concluded the prosecutor’s justification instruction, requiring the grand jury to assess reasonableness, did not misstate the law.
- The court held hearsay or impeaching material does not mandate dismissal where the grand jury evidence is otherwise legally sufficient; credibility disputes are for trial.

## Legal Principles

- Under N.Y. Penal Law § 35.15, deadly-force justification turns on both (a) the defendant’s actual belief and (b) whether a reasonable person in the defendant’s situation would share that belief.
- “Reasonably believes” is not satisfied by an idiosyncratic or delusional fear; the statutory term imposes an external reasonableness limit.
- In applying the objective component, factfinders may consider circumstances as perceived by the defendant, including contextual factors bearing on what a reasonable person in that situation would believe.
- An indictment should not be dismissed based on later hearsay or potential impeachment so long as the grand jury had legally sufficient evidence to support the charges.

## Conclusion

The court interpreted New York’s deadly-force justification statute to require both a genuine belief in the need for deadly force and a belief that is reasonable under the circumstances, and it reinstated Goetz’s indictment because the grand jury was properly instructed and the proof was legally sufficient.


People v. Goetz, 68 N.Y.2d 96 (N.Y. 1986)