17.0 - I. Introduction

• Jurisdiction: New York

I. INTRODUCTION

The current criminal statutory scheme in New York recognizes various defenses to criminal liability, unlike the former penal law, which contained no provisions for defenses. Courts generally recognized certain defenses but never held that the defendant had the burden of proving them. The former law required that the prosecution disprove a defense once it was raised.

The present law codifies two sets of defenses: ordinary defenses (infancy and justification), called simply “defenses,” and...