Goetz Jury Starts Deliberating After 2-Hour Instruction

Twelve jurors began deliberating the fate Friday of Bernhard H. Goetz, the 39-year-old engineer whose shooting of four black teen-agers on a Manhattan subway in December, 1984, sparked a national debate on urban crime and vigilante violence.

The jury met for 5 1/2 hours before breaking for the night, and will resume deliberations today.

After a 7-week trial, Acting Justice Stephen G. Crane instructed the jurors for more than two hours on complex questions of law in the 13 charges against the celebrated subway gunman.

Crane said the jurors must evaluate Goetz’s claim that he fired in self-defense against a standard of what “a hypothetical reasonable person” would have done in the subway, and not simply on whether Goetz thought it was reasonable.

“The question is not just what did the defendant believe, but what did he have a right to believe,” Crane said. “What would a reasonable person have believed, and what would a reasonable person have done?”

Jury Hears Confessions

In two taped confessions played for the jury, Goetz said he fired his .38-caliber pistol after one of the four had asked him for $5. Goetz said he believed the group was going to mug him, but the prosecutor, Gregory L. Waples, said the youths were panhandling.

Crane said Goetz could not justifiably have shot all four unless all four were threatening him with deadly physical force. He said Goetz was “under a legal duty to retreat” if he possibly could.

“Anger alone, no matter how understandable or reasonable, can never justify the use of deadly physical force,” Crane said.

Crane said the jurors must convict Goetz if the evidence is sufficient to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Earlier, he had rejected an argument by Goetz’s lawyer, Barry I. Slotnick, that the jurors be allowed to acquit Goetz on the basis of their conscience.

Charged on Multiple Counts

Goetz is charged with four counts of second-degree attempted murder, four counts of first-degree assault, four counts of illegal weapons possession and one count of first-degree reckless endangerment.

Goetz faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted on the most serious count. He played with a pen and stared at the judge as the instructions were read.

The 12 jurors include six victims of crimes, three of which occurred in the subway. Two of the jurors are black. The jury retired at 1:24 p.m, but returned at 3:30 and again at 6 p.m. to request rereading of the charges and some testimony regarding illegal weapons possession charges.

The trial began April 27 in State Supreme Court in Manhattan.