Procedural History Of Goetz Case Brief

Procedural History: Goetz, defendant, was indicted by a Grand Jury on January 25 1985, for criminal possession of a weapon in third degree, possession the gun during the shooting, two counts for fourth degree criminal possession of a weapon, and possession of two other weapons. The Grand Jury also indicted him for attempt to the following, murder, reckless endangerment, and assault. He was dismissed for the charges of attempted murder and those that came from the shooting. On March 27, 1985, a second Grand Jury indicted the defendant for four charges for attempted murder, four charges of assault in first degree, one for reckless endangerment, and one for criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree on the grounds that new evidence became

The defendant boarded the same subway train in Manhattan and sat in the same car that had the four victims. Goetz had a .38 caliber pistol with five bullets in his possession. Canty, with the possibility of Allen beside him approached the defendant stating, “give me five dollars.” The defendant pulled out his firearm and shot four of the five shots. Canty was shot in the chest, Allen was shot in the back, and Ramseur was shot in the left arm. The bullet that was fired at Cabey missed. The defendant fired another shot at Cabey. The bullet severed Cabey's spinal cord. When the conductor came to inspect the shootings, the defendant stated that the four boys were trying to rob him and fled the scene. Ramseur and Canty were in critical condition when the police and paramedics arrived and Cabey has suffered brain damage. The defendant surrendered to police in Concord, New Hampshire on December 31, 1984. Goetz admitted that he was carrying a handgun illegally for three years. He had purchased the gun in 1981 because of a prior mugging that happened to him and he had used the handgun to ward off assailants twice. The defendant stated that the smile on Canty's face when he said, “give me five dollars” made him determine that Canty wanted to rob him. The defendant also stated the pattern of fire from the scene, stating that he shot left to right. He claimed his intentions were to murder or hurt the four youths. Goetz also claimed that, “if I had one more bullets, I would have shot them again, and again, and