People v. Young
Court of Appeals of New York
183 N.E.2d 319 (1962)
Relevant factsFree
Young (defendant) saw an eighteen-year-old boy being beaten on a sidewalk by two middle-aged men and attacked the men to rescue the boy, not realizing the men were undercover detectives lawfully arresting the boy for disorderly conduct, and that the boy was resisting arrest. Young was charged with assault, but the Appellate Division vacated the charge on a mistake-of-fact justification theory, and the state appealed.
IssueFree
Whether an individual commits assault when he intends to cause bodily harm to another, but acted only because he mistakenly believed there was a justifiable reason to do so.