People v. Hernandez

82 N.Y.2d 309, 604 N.Y.S.2d 524 (1993)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Santana and Hernandez (Ds) conspired to ambush and rob a man who was coming to an apartment building to buy drugs. Santana was to lure the victim into the building stairwell where Hernandez waited with a gun. The victim just happened to be an undercover State Trooper, wearing a transmitter and backed up by fellow officers. Once the Trooper was inside the building, Hernandez accosted him and pointed a gun at his head. A fight ensued and the officer announced that he was a policeman, pulled out his service revolver, and began firing. Hernandez ran from the building into a courtyard where he encountered members of the police backup unit. They ordered him to halt. He aimed his gun at one of the officers and moved toward him. The officers began firing, and Trooper Joseph Aversa was fatally shot in the head. Santana was arrested inside the building. P conceded that neither Ds were the shooter. Ds were convicted of felony murder and other charges. Ds appealed. The appeals court affirmed. Even though a fellow officer shot Aversa, the Court concluded that Ds were properly held responsible for felony murder because their conduct 'unquestionably 'forged' a critical link in the chain of events that led to Trooper Aversa's death.' Ds appealed and contend that the felony murder charges should have been dismissed because neither one of them fired the fatal shot. P contends that it was highly foreseeable that someone would be killed in a shootout when Hernandez refused to put down his gun and instead persisted in threatening the life of one of the back-up officers.