People v Prindle, 2011 NY Slip Op 01320 [available here]
The defendant in Prindle was caught loading a stolen snowplow blade into the back of his van. He took off, and led police on a chase into the city of Rochester. The chase ended when "defendant smash[ed] his van into another vehicle and kill[ed] a passenger." At the time of trial, Register had yet to be explicitly overruled, and therefore the old standard for depraved indifference murder applied, i.e. whether the killing occurred under circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to human life. The majority had little trouble concluding that, at most, defendant was guilty of reckless manslaughter, and simply failed to act with the depravity required to support the equivalent of an intentional murder conviction.
Judge Pigott wrote for the three dissenters. The dissent is a bit overwrought, dwelling on facts that, while sad, have nothing to do with legal issue before the court. The dissent notes that the victim was "returning from a baby shower" and suffered for days before "succumbing to her injuries." Emotional, sad stuff, to be sure, but absolutely irrelevant to whether defendant's actions evinced the required depravity to human life.
Congrats to Special Assistant Public Defender Drew Dubrin, on the brief for Mr. Prindle. Read the D&C's article about the decision here.
UPDATE: Drew has his thoughts on the decision up here, over at New York Criminal Defense.
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