People v. Franklin

Magano, J.,

dissents and votes to affirm the judgment, with the following memorandum: The majority holds, in effect, that when the defense of justification, as defined in subdivision 1 of section 35.10 of the Penal Law is raised in a criminal matter, its validity should be measured solely according to defendant’s beliefs regarding the use of physical force in disciplining his children. As viewed by the majority, the focus of such a determination is not whether defendant “used reasonable force”, but whether he reasonably believed such force was necessary. The majority therefore decides that the…