People v. Scarborough, 49 N.Y.2d 364 (1980)
A lesser included offense should only be submitted to the jury if there is a rational basis for the jury to acquit the defendant of the greater offense while convicting on the lesser offense.
Summary
Defendants Scarborough and Codrington were convicted of criminal sale of a controlled substance. At trial, the judge declined to instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of possession of a controlled substance. The New York Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions, holding that a lesser included offense instruction is only required when there is a rational basis for the jury to conclude the defendant committed the lesser offense but not the greater. Because the prosecution’s case rested on the testimony of a single undercover officer and the defendants presented a blanket denial, there was no rational basis to distinguish between the sale and possession, making the instruction unwarranted.
Facts
Undercover Officer Hewitt arranged to buy heroin. He entered a storefront where Codrington was present. Hewitt told Codrington he wanted to buy 20 bags of heroin. Codrington called Scarborough inside and directed her to give Hewitt 25 glassine envelopes from a brown paper bag. Scarborough took $200 from Hewitt and gave him the envelopes, which contained heroin. A back-up officer corroborated Hewitt’s testimony and took photographs of the events.
Procedural History
Scarborough and Codrington were jointly indicted and tried for criminal sale of a controlled substance, as well as criminal possession. The trial court only submitted the sale charge to the jury, refusing the defense’s request to also submit the lesser possession charges. The Appellate Division affirmed the convictions. The New York Court of Appeals granted review and affirmed.
Issue(s)
Whether the trial court erred in refusing to submit counts of possession of a controlled substance as lesser included offenses of the charge of criminal sale of a controlled substance.
Holding
No, because no rational basis existed for the jury to reject the undercover officer’s testimony regarding the sale while accepting his testimony regarding possession.
Court’s Reasoning
The court stated that CPL 300.50 dictates when a lesser included offense must be submitted to a jury. The key is whether “there is a reasonable view of the evidence which would support a finding that the defendant committed such lesser offense but did not commit the greater.” The court emphasized that a lesser-included offense instruction is not required in every case. The court cited People v. Mussenden, 308 N.Y. 558 (1955), holding that a lesser crime instruction is only justified where there is some basis in the evidence for finding the accused innocent of the higher crime, yet guilty of the lower one.
The Court found the general rule to be: “if, on the whole record, there is not some identifiable, rational basis on which the jury could reject a portion of the prosecution’s case which is indispensable to establishment of the higher crime and yet accept so much of the proof as would establish the lesser crime, then the lesser included offense may not be submitted.” An example of a rational basis would be when the defendant denies only the element of the criminal transaction which is a necessary component of the greater crime and either admits or does not deny the elements of the lesser offense.
The court distinguished cases where the defendant admitted to acts establishing the lesser crime or where there were inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case. Here, the only evidence came from one witness, Officer Hewitt, and the defendants issued blanket denials. There was no basis for the jury to selectively believe part of Hewitt’s testimony (possession) while disbelieving another part (sale). The court held that allowing the jury to choose would be “to countenance its arbitrary sorting of the testimony of a single witness.” As such, the instruction on the lesser included offense was not warranted.
The court rejected the argument that the jury has the right to engage in a wholly arbitrary, even irrational, selection from the proof.