People v. Louis

Alex Brustofsky, 71 years of age, was killed by two men in the course of a holdup committed in the hallway of the apartment house in which he lived. Defendants were charged with murder in the first degree, convicted and sentenced, upon the jury’s recommendation, to life imprisonment. The Appellate Division reversed the judgments of conviction solely on the law and ordered a new trial; in its view, the trial court had erred in not instructing the jury respecting the “ additional proof,” required by section 395 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, to support a confession.

Both defendants had…