Langston v. Smith, No. 10-3045

Grant of Habeas Petition Affirmed

In Langston v. Smith, No. 10-3045, a prosecution for felony assault and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, the court affirmed the grant of petitioner's habeas petition where no reasonable jury could have convicted petitioner of felony assault, and the state appellate court unreasonably applied Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979), in concluding otherwise.

As the court wrote:  "In 2003, a New York jury convicted petitioner-appellee Kevin Langston of felony assault and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree.1 New York's felony assault statute criminalizes actions taken "[i]n the course of and in furtherance of the commission ․ of a felony" that cause "serious physical injury" to a non-participant. N.Y. Penal Law § 120.10(4). At trial, the prosecution demonstrated that one of Langston's accomplices shot and seriously injured NYPD Detective Arthur Marquez during what appears to have been an attempted robbery."

Related Resources

• Read the Second Circuit's Decision in Langston v. Smith, No. 10-3045