People v. Harris

740 N.E.2d 227 (2000)

Facts

D was in love with his live-in girlfriend, Monique Lloyd. Amorose was supposedly D’s longtime friend. Lloyd had been unfaithful to D with Amorose in the past. She once left Dt for Amorose. When Lloyd went to another room, Amorose began taunting D by expressing in crude terms that he could still have sex with Lloyd at any time and that Lloyd would leave D for him merely at his beck and call. D claimed he lost control and killed Amorose with a machete. With the help of Lloyd, D decapitated and dismembered Amorose's body, put the body parts in garbage bags, and discarded the bags in the ocean off Coney Island. D confessed to the murder. D's confessions explained that he completely lost control over his actions in response to Amorose's taunts. D admitted that when he started to hit Amorose, he just 'couldn't stop.' D started crying and vomiting after he killed Amorose with the machete. D's psychiatric expert opined that D was acting under 'extreme stress' at the time of the incident and that he satisfied the criteria equated with 'the legal terminology' of extreme emotional disturbance. D requested instructions on extreme emotional disturbance but the court refused. D was convicted of second-degree murder and appealed. The Appellate Division affirmed the judgment and D appealed.