NEW CITY – The murder conviction of Nixon Bourguignon, formerly of Haverstraw, who strangled his girlfriend to death, has been upheld by the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court, Second Judicial Department.
Bourguignon murdered Shannon Coleman at their apartment on the night of May 7, 2014. He was sentenced in Rockland County Court to 20 years to life in state prison.
At trial, Bourguignon maintained he had minimal memory of the crime because he was intoxicated by certain prescription drugs that he had taken earlier in the evening. His expert witness testified that the prescription drugs at issue were “very likely to have precipitated a rage or a violent reaction” and that temporary amnesia was a known side effect.
In rebuttal, the prosecution presented expert testimony that Bourguignon was not under the influence of those medications at the time of the incident because the drugs would have rendered him too sedate to act, and because his actions later that night were inconsistent with someone who was intoxicated by the medications.
“[A]n intoxicated person can form the requisite criminal intent to commit a crime, and it is for the trier of fact to decide if the extent of the intoxication acted to negate the element of intent,” the appellate court decision dated November 13, 2019 stated.
“Any conflict in the expert testimony created a credibility issue, and the jury’s resolution of that issue is supported by the record,” the appeals court wrote. “Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, we find that it was legally sufficient to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant formed the requisite criminal intent.”
The court also stated it was satisfied that the verdict of guilt “was not against the weight of the evidence.”
