Paul B. Dudley v. Stephen Dalsheim, Superintendent, Downtown Correctional Facility and Robert Abrams, Attorney General of the State of New York

On August 13, 1974 appellant Paul B. Dudley was convicted of murder in New York State Supreme Court following a jury trial. Government eye-witnesses who knew Dudley testified that appellant approached the victim, and without provocation aimed a gun directly at his head at close range and pulled the trigger. Dudley’s sole defense was one of alibi. Two defense witnesses implied that he was elsewhere at the time of the shooting. The intent of the killer was not a defense issue because appellant claimed he was not even present. The trial judge twice instructed the jury, inter alia, that a person…