Patterson v. New York
Patterson v. New York, 432 U.S. 197 (1977), was a legal case heard by the Supreme Court of the United States that stated that the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause did not prevent the burdening a defendant with proving the affirmative defense of extreme emotional disturbance as defined by New York law.

The court found that the State of New York had reclassified provocation ("extreme emotional disturbance") as an excuse (an affirmative defense requiring proof by preponderance of the evidence), rather than a circumstance negating the mental element (mens rea), which the prosecution had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, as was the situation in "Mullaney v. Wilbur" (1975).
Q2334719
legal case
Concept
Q11201
Supreme Court of the United States
Concept
Q188116
Fourteenth Amendment
LOC
Q5312127
Due Process Clause
ORG
Q3566104
provocation
Concept
Q552754
excuse
Concept
Q1048403
mens rea
Concept
Q28455975
Mullaney v. Wilbur
Concept
Q7148485
Patterson v. New York
EVE
+1977^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1977
NUMBER
+1975^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1975
NUMBER
court
part of
subclass of