Opinion ID: 794361
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Vargas's 1984 Manslaughter Conviction

Text: 2 Vargas, a citizen of Peru, entered the United States on or about July 7, 1976, as a non-immigrant visitor and, on February 1, 1983, acquired lawful permanent resident status. A few months earlier, in October 1982, Vargas was arrested by New York State authorities and indicted for second-degree murder in connection with the stabbing death of his girlfriend, Miriam M. Molina. See N.Y. Penal Law § 125.25(1). In May 1984, a Kings County jury found Vargas guilty of the lesser-included offense of first-degree manslaughter without returning a verdict on the second-degree murder charge. See id. § 125.20; Sellan v. Kuhlman, 261 F.3d 303, 306 (2d Cir.2001) (noting that, under New York law, first-degree manslaughter is a lesser-included offense of second-degree murder). On June 20, 1984, Vargas was sentenced to an indeterminate term of 7½ to 22 ½ years in prison. 3 In appealing his conviction, Vargas argued, inter alia, that the trial judge erred in failing to charge the lesser-included offenses of second-degree manslaughter, see N.Y. Penal Law § 125.15(1), and criminally negligent homicide, id. § 125.10, crimes that require proof, respectively, of a reckless or negligent mental state, in contrast to first-degree manslaughter, which under § 125.20(1) and (2) requires proof of a specific intent to cause, respectively, serious physical injury or death. The Appellate Division, Second Department, rejected these arguments and affirmed Vargas's conviction, ruling that no reasonable view of the evidence would support a finding that the defendant acted recklessly or negligently. People v. Vargas, 125 A.D.2d 512, 512, 509 N.Y.S.2d 591, 591 (2d Dep't 1986). The court observed that the record showed that Vargas had approached Ms. Molina with an open knife in his hand, and stabbed her four times, once in the back. Id.; see also People v. Suarez, 6 N.Y.3d 202, 211-12, 811 N.Y.S.2d 267, 844 N.E.2d 721 (2005) (observing that a one-on-one shooting or knifing (or similar killing) can almost never qualify as depraved indifference murder under N.Y. Penal Law § 125.25(2) because the defendant in such killings almost always acts intentionally (quoting People v. Payne, 3 N.Y.3d 266, 272, 786 N.Y.S.2d 116, 119, 819 N.E.2d 634 (2004))). 4 Vargas remained incarcerated by New York State until August 1995, when he was released on parole.