N.Y. Subway Shooter Goetz to Stand Trial : State’s High Court Reinstates Charges of Attempted Murder

The state’s highest court today unanimously reversed a lower court and ordered subway gunman Bernhard Goetz to stand trial on charges of attempting to murder four youths he thought were going to mug him.

The Court of Appeals, on a 7-0 vote, overturned a lower court that had dismissed the charges on a technicality, saying such a dismissal would allow citizens to set their own standards for the use of force.

In New York City, Goetz instructed his lawyers not to appeal the decision and to prepare to go to trial as scheduled Sept. 2.

Goetz has admitted shooting the youths Dec. 22, 1984, after one of them approached him for $5.

Goetz, who had been injured in a mugging in 1981, said he was acting in self-defense when he opened fire on the subway. The teen-agers have said they were just panhandling to get money for video games.

No Opinion on Guilt

Chief Judge Sol Wachtler wrote today’s opinion, saying, “We do not purport to reach any conclusion or holding as to exactly what transpired or whether defendant is blameworthy.

“The credibility of witnesses and the reasonableness of defendant’s conduct are to be resolved by the trial jury,” he said.

The high court struck down a mid-level appeals court ruling that said deadly force was justified in virtually any case in which a defendant believes he is threatened.

The Court of Appeals disagreed, saying the state must adhere to a more objective standard for determining when deadly force is permissible.

Decision Explained

“We cannot . . . allow the perpetrator of a serious crime to go free simply because that person believed his actions were reasonable and necessary to prevent some perceived harm,” Wachtler wrote.

“To completely exonerate such an individual, no matter how aberrational or bizarre his thought patterns, would allow citizens to set their own standards for the permissible use of force.”

The shooting turned Goetz into an international figure after he surrendered to police in Concord, N.H., on New Year’s Eve, days after the shooting.

Sympathizers portrayed the 39-year-old electronics equipment calibrator as a crime victim fighting back, while detractors said he was a vigilante looking for trouble and had turned into a criminal himself.

He lost much of his public support when it was revealed that he shot one of the youths twice, saying, “You don’t look so bad. Here’s another.”