ALBANY, N.Y., Dec. 28 (UPI) -- New York's highest court has ruled that prosecutors must meet a higher standard in arguing "depraved indifference" in murder cases.
The Court of Appeals said the the frequently used murder statute should be applied in only the rarest of cases and not exploited as "a fallback" by district attorneys looking to ensure a conviction, Newsday reported.
The court said depraved indifference murder is "best understood as an utter disregard for the value of human life -- a willingness to act not because one intends harm, but because one simply doesn't care whether grievous harm results or not."
The ruling said the "vast majority of killings simply do not meet this standard" and gave as rare examples of depraved indifference murders shooting into a crowd or "opening a drawbridge as a train is about to pass over it."
