People v. Brown, 160 A.D.3d 39

Defendant Darryl Brown (a licensed NYC correction officer) shot and killed 21‑year‑old Vonde Cabbagestalk in the lobby of his apartment building; defendant was convicted of first‑degree manslaughter after a jury trial.
Eyewitness Raymond Wolf (the only witness who saw the shooting) testified that Cabbagestalk advanced on Brown, swung at his face multiple times, attempted to grab Brown’s gun, and said, “you going to pull a gun out, you better use it,” at which point Brown fired.
Other witnesses heard arguing and the gunshot but did not see the shooting; police recovered a shell casing matched to Brown’s Glock found in his apartment; Brown did not testify.
Before summations, defense requested a jury instruction on justification (self‑defense); the trial court denied the request and refused to charge justification to the jury.
On appeal, the Appellate Division (majority) held that, viewing evidence in the light most favorable to Brown, a reasonable jury could find he subjectively and objectively believed deadly force was necessary — thus failure to charge justification was reversible error; case remanded for new trial.

Issue	People’s Argument	Brown’s Argument	Held
Whether the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on the defense of justification (deadly force in self‑defense).	No justification charge: evidence didn’t reasonably support that Brown subjectively or objectively believed deadly force was necessary; witnesses indicated Brown introduced the firearm and was the aggressor.	A justification charge was warranted because eyewitness testimony (Wolf) showed Cabbagestalk aggressively advanced, swung at Brown, grabbed for Brown’s gun and threatened to use it, creating a reasonable belief of imminent deadly force.	Reversed: the majority held a reasonable view of the evidence supported justification (both subjective belief and objective reasonableness), so excluding the charge was reversible error and required a new trial.

People v. Padgett, 60 N.Y.2d 142 (establishes that if any reasonable view of the evidence supports justification, failure to charge is reversible error)
People v. Wesley, 76 N.Y.2d 555 (requires subjective and objective inquiry for justification — what defendant believed and whether that belief was reasonable)
People v. Goetz, 68 N.Y.2d 96 (same Wesley/Goetz standard; examines reasonableness and defendant’s perception)
People v. Dodt, 61 N.Y.2d 408 (threat to use a gun constitutes threatened deadly physical force)
People v. Schwartz, 168 A.D.2d 251 (reversed manslaughter conviction where defendant fired after assailant lunged and grabbed for his gun — justification charge required)
People v. Petty, 7 N.Y.3d 277 (distinguishes harmless‑error analysis where evidence overwhelmingly disproves justification)