People v. Harris
Court of Appeals of the State of New York
740 N.E.2d 227 (2000)
After his friend Larry Amorose crudely taunted him about being able to have sex with Harris's girlfriend Monique Lloyd whenever he wanted (having previously stolen her from Harris once already), Lydell Harris (defendant) testified he completely lost control and repeatedly hit Amorose, unable to stop until Amorose was dead; Harris then cried and vomited before, with Lloyd's help, decapitating and dismembering the body and disposing of the remains in the ocean, later telling police he felt like he was watching a movie during the attack with no control over his actions. At trial, a psychiatric expert testified Harris met the legal definition of extreme emotional disturbance, but the trial court declined to submit that defense to the jury, and Harris was convicted of second-degree murder and appealed.
Whether a defendant's own account of losing control during a killing, combined with evidence of subsequent mutilation of the victim's body, is sufficient to require submitting the extreme emotional disturbance defense to the jury.