1 N.Y.3d 269 (2003)
A defendant forfeits or waives a statute of limitations defense for a lesser included offense when the indictment is based on legally sufficient evidence and the defendant requests that the jury be charged on the lesser included offense.
Summary
Arthur Mills was indicted for second-degree murder in the 1978 drowning death of a 12-year-old. Mills requested the jury be instructed on the lesser included offense of criminally negligent homicide, which had a five-year statute of limitations that had long expired. The trial court agreed, conditioning the charge on Mills waiving any statute of limitations defense. Mills maintained his right to appeal on statute of limitations grounds, but the court charged the jury with the lesser offense. Mills was convicted of criminally negligent homicide. The Court of Appeals held that by requesting the charge, Mills waived his statute of limitations defense, provided the original indictment for second-degree murder was based on legally sufficient evidence.
Facts
In 1978, Arthur Mills (age 17) pushed 12-year-old Raymond Umber off a pier into Oneida Lake. Umber hit his head and drowned. Mills told his companions to keep quiet, threatening them with jail if they revealed the incident. The death was initially ruled accidental. Twenty years later, Mills’s brother, motivated by anger over an affair, reported the incident to the police. Mills’s wife also provided incriminating statements.
Procedural History
Mills was indicted for second-degree murder. He requested that lesser included offenses be submitted to the jury. The trial court granted this request, conditioning it on a waiver of any statute of limitations defense for the lesser charges. At the charge conference, Mills requested criminally negligent homicide be submitted, but maintained he reserved the right to appeal on statute of limitations grounds. The jury acquitted Mills of second-degree murder but convicted him of criminally negligent homicide. Mills’s motion to set aside the verdict was denied. The Appellate Division affirmed. Leave to appeal was granted, and the Court of Appeals affirmed.
Issue(s)
Whether a defendant, by requesting that the jury be charged on a lesser included offense that is normally time-barred, forfeits or waives the statute of limitations defense to that lesser included offense, when the indictment is based on legally sufficient evidence.
Holding
Yes, because where an indictment is based on legally sufficient evidence, a defendant’s statute of limitations defense is forfeited or waived by his request to charge the lesser included offense.
Court’s Reasoning
The Court of Appeals reasoned that the statute of limitations is an affirmative defense that can be waived. CPL 300.50(1) allows for lesser included offenses to be submitted if there’s a reasonable view of the evidence supporting the lesser offense but not the greater. CPL 300.50(2) requires the court to submit a lesser included offense when requested by either party if authorized by CPL 300.50(1). By requesting the charge, Mills waived his right to challenge the submission of the lesser charge on appeal. The court emphasized that its holding eliminates the danger of prosecutorial overcharging to circumvent the statute of limitations, because the court would still have to decide if the evidence before the grand jury was legally sufficient to support the depraved indifference charge.
The Court found the evidence presented to the grand jury was legally sufficient to establish a prima facie case of depraved indifference murder. The Court stated, “Legally sufficient evidence is defined as ‘competent evidence which, if accepted as true, would establish every element of an offense charged’ (CPL 70.10 [1]). In the context of grand jury proceedings, ‘legal sufficiency means prima facie proof of the crimes charged, not proof beyond a reasonable doubt’ (People v Bello, 92 NY2d 523, 526 [1998]; see People v Mayo, 36 NY2d 1002, 1004 [1975]).” The actions of pushing Umber, and then misleading Mills’ friends to discourage them from helping established a prima facie case.
Regarding the marital privilege, the Court found statements made during the course of physical abuse are not considered confidential because the speaker isn’t relying on the marital relationship to keep the statements secret. Because Mills was choking and threatening his wife when he made the incriminating statements, the privilege did not apply.