People v. Newman

OPINION OF THE COURT

Fuchsberg, J.

We hold that, in the circumstances of this criminal case, it was reversible error for the trial court to have refused a *128request to charge that the People had the burden of proving every element of the crimes charged beyond a reasonable doubt when the ground for the refusal was that the court had already so advised the jury in a preliminary address at the outset of trial.1

The appellant, Richard Newman, was charged with multiple counts of assault, larceny and robbery, all stemming from a subway altercation in which a passenger was robbed of six dollars. After a…