People v. Marrero p. 177 NY 1987 Facts: Marrero was arrested of carrying a gun without a license. He claims to have misinterpreted the statute which says any peace office, including any state correctional officer, can carry a gun without a license. It turns out that because he is a federal corrections officer the exemption does not apply to him. He is raising the defense that his misinterpretation of the law should allow him to be set free. He works for a Federal Correctional Institute in Connecticut and was arrested in New York. Does misinterpretation of a statue excuse its violation, where the statue does not have a mens rea requirement. No, even if the misinterpretation is reasonable. Arrested, Pre-Trial Motion was granted and the case was dismissed, that was appealed and 3-2 the motion was overturned, they went to trial and D was convicted, he appealed and the conviction was affirmed, now he is appealing to the highest court. He is arguing that because he believes that he is allowed to carry the gun there for he does not have the intent to commit the crime.
Issue:
Holding: Proc:
Def: