People v. Shulman

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals affirmed Robert Shulman's convictions for offenses including first-degree murder arising from the killings and dismemberment of three women. The court set aside his death sentence pursuant to developments concerning unconstitutional death-penalty plea provisions, while rejecting his challenges concerning probable cause, juror selection, and related trial proceedings.

Holdings

1. The police had probable cause because the totality of the circumstances established a reasonable belief that Shulman committed the offenses under investigation.
2. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the for-cause challenges because the challenged jurors provided sufficient assurances of impartiality or did not fall within the statutory grounds for exclusion.
3. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by declining to survey the jurors about whether they had seen the headline or heard about the article.
4. The similar-fashion element may encompass the conduct comprising the separate criminal transactions, including postmortem conduct; it is not limited to the acts or instrumentality that caused death.
5. The death sentence had to be vacated because People v. LaValle and related precedent required setting aside the sentence under the circumstances presented.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the police had probable cause to arrest Shulman.
2. Whether the trial court improperly denied for-cause challenges to prospective jurors.
3. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by declining to question seated jurors about a newspaper headline concerning the trial.
4. Whether postmortem conduct could be considered in determining whether multiple murders were committed in a similar fashion under Penal Law § 125.27 (1) (a) (xi).
5. Whether the death sentence had to be vacated in light of People v. LaValle and related precedent.

Disposition

other