(DOWNLOAD) "People v. Nelson" by Appellate Term, First Department New York Supreme Court # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: People v. Nelson
- Author : Appellate Term, First Department New York Supreme Court
- Release Date : January 21, 2006
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 58 KB
Description
Defendant was convicted, after a non-jury trial, of animal cruelty (Agriculture and Markets Law § 353), a misdemeanor, upon evidence that he tightly wrapped a rubber band around the base of a Rottweilers tail for three days in a failed attempt to "dock" or amputate the tail, a procedure shown to have caused an open wound two inches in width and to have ultimately resulted in the surgical amputation of the animals tail. On appeal defendant candidly acknowledges that the tail docking procedure that he employed "undeniabl[y] . . . caused pain and suffering that was excessive in proportion to the value of having the tail docked," and raises no argument directed to the constitutionality of the statute or its applicability to the facts of this case. Rather, defendant seeks reversal upon a single, narrow ground: that the People failed to establish that his conduct was actuated by the "mental culpability" claimed by the defense to be required by the statute. However, the penal statute as written specifies a strict liability offense not requiring any culpable mental state and, paradoxically, defendant appears to acknowledge as much by conceding that the terms of the statute "provide[ ] for no level of culpability". Nor may we rewrite the plain words of the statute by adding, through judicial gloss, a culpable mental state or new element not provided by the Legislature.
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