ALBANY – A defendant who invoked extreme emotional disturbance as a defense against murder and assault charges accepted the risk of having past, uncharged crimes used against him with limitations set by the trial court, the state Court of Appeals decided Wednesday.

Provided the evidence was admitted for a limited purpose, such as to aid in the evaluation of psychiatric testimony, and not to establish a defendant's general criminal propensity, the court said, evidence of prior, uncharged violent behavior by Daniel Israel was not prejudicial against him.

Judge Leslie Stein, writing for the 6-0 court in People v. Israel, 171, said Israel made his mental state and his reaction to extreme stress a central issue at his trial before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michael Gobus by contending that he killed a man and wounded two others during a street fight in Harlem in 2007 due to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).