Bill Text: NY A06885 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires life without parole for the crime of murder in the first degree, and a minimum term of 40 years for murder in the second degree.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-07 - held for consideration in codes [A06885 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A06885-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6885 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY May 8, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. SMITH -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the penal law and the criminal procedure law, in relation to the sentence of imprisonment for murder in the first and second degrees The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 60.06 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 482 2 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows: 3 § 60.06 Authorized disposition; murder in the first degree offenders; 4 aggravated murder offenders; certain murder in the second 5 degree offenders; certain terrorism offenders; criminal 6 possession of a chemical weapon or biological weapon offen- 7 ders; criminal use of a chemical weapon or biological weapon 8 offenders. 9 When a defendant is convicted of murder in the first degree as defined 10 in section 125.27 of this chapter, the court shall, in accordance with 11 the provisions of section 400.27 of the criminal procedure law, sentence 12 the defendant to death[,] or to life imprisonment without parole in 13 accordance with subdivision five of section 70.00 of this title[, or to14a term of imprisonment for a class A-I felony other than a sentence of15life imprisonment without parole, in accordance with subdivisions one16through three of section 70.00 of this title]. When a person is 17 convicted of murder in the second degree as defined in subdivision five 18 of section 125.25 of this chapter or of the crime of aggravated murder 19 as defined in subdivision one of section 125.26 of this chapter, the 20 court shall sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without parole 21 in accordance with subdivision five of section 70.00 of this title. When 22 a defendant is convicted of the crime of terrorism as defined in section 23 490.25 of this chapter, and the specified offense the defendant commit- 24 ted is a class A-I felony offense, or when a defendant is convicted of EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD09816-01-3A. 6885 2 1 the crime of criminal possession of a chemical weapon or biological 2 weapon in the first degree as defined in section 490.45 of this chapter, 3 or when a defendant is convicted of the crime of criminal use of a chem- 4 ical weapon or biological weapon in the first degree as defined in 5 section 490.55 of this chapter, the court shall sentence the defendant 6 to life imprisonment without parole in accordance with subdivision five 7 of section 70.00 of this title; provided, however, that nothing in this 8 section shall preclude or prevent a sentence of death when the defendant 9 is also convicted of murder in the first degree as defined in section 10 125.27 of this chapter. When a defendant is convicted of aggravated 11 murder as defined in subdivision two of section 125.26 of this chapter, 12 the court shall sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without 13 parole or to a term of imprisonment for a class A-I felony other than a 14 sentence of life imprisonment without parole, in accordance with subdi- 15 visions one through three of section 70.00 of this title. 16 § 2. Subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 and subdivi- 17 sion 5 of section 70.00 of the penal law, subparagraph (i) of paragraph 18 (a) of subdivision 3 as amended by chapter 107 of the laws of 2006, 19 subdivision 5 as amended by section 40-a of part WWW of chapter 59 of 20 the laws of 2017, are amended to read as follows: 21 (i) For a class A-I felony, such minimum period shall not be less than 22 fifteen years nor more than twenty-five years; provided, however, that 23 (A) where a [sentence, other than a sentence of death or life imprison-24ment without parole, is imposed upon a] defendant convicted of murder in 25 the first degree as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter such 26 [minimum period shall be not less than twenty years nor more than twen-27ty-five years] sentence shall be life imprisonment without parole, and, 28 (B) where a sentence is imposed upon a defendant convicted of murder in 29 the second degree as defined in subdivision five of section 125.25 of 30 this chapter or convicted of aggravated murder as defined in section 31 125.26 of this chapter, the sentence shall be life imprisonment without 32 parole, and, (C) where a sentence is imposed upon a defendant convicted 33 of attempted murder in the first degree as defined in article one 34 hundred ten of this chapter and subparagraph (i), (ii) or (iii) of para- 35 graph (a) of subdivision one and paragraph (b) of subdivision one of 36 section 125.27 of this chapter or attempted aggravated murder as defined 37 in article one hundred ten of this chapter and section 125.26 of this 38 chapter such minimum period shall be not less than twenty years nor more 39 than forty years, and, (D) where a sentence is imposed upon a defendant 40 convicted of murder in the second degree as defined in section 125.25 of 41 this chapter, except as otherwise provided in this subparagraph, such 42 minimum period shall be forty years. 43 5. Life imprisonment without parole. Notwithstanding any other 44 provision of law, a defendant sentenced to life imprisonment without 45 parole shall not be or become eligible for parole or conditional 46 release. For purposes of commitment and custody, other than parole and 47 conditional release, such sentence shall be deemed to be an indetermi- 48 nate sentence. A defendant [may] shall be sentenced to life imprisonment 49 without parole upon conviction for the crime of murder in the first 50 degree as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter and in accordance 51 with the procedures provided by law for imposing a sentence for such 52 crime. A defendant who was eighteen years of age or older at the time of 53 the commission of the crime must be sentenced to life imprisonment with- 54 out parole upon conviction for the crime of terrorism as defined in 55 section 490.25 of this chapter, where the specified offense the defend- 56 ant committed is a class A-I felony; the crime of criminal possession ofA. 6885 3 1 a chemical weapon or biological weapon in the first degree as defined in 2 section 490.45 of this chapter; or the crime of criminal use of a chemi- 3 cal weapon or biological weapon in the first degree as defined in 4 section 490.55 of this chapter; provided, however, that nothing in this 5 subdivision shall preclude or prevent a sentence of death when the 6 defendant is also convicted of the crime of murder in the first degree 7 as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter. A defendant who was seven- 8 teen years of age or younger at the time of the commission of the crime 9 may be sentenced, in accordance with law, to the applicable indetermi- 10 nate sentence with a maximum term of life imprisonment. A defendant must 11 be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole upon conviction for the 12 crime of murder in the second degree as defined in subdivision five of 13 section 125.25 of this chapter or for the crime of aggravated murder as 14 defined in subdivision one of section 125.26 of this chapter. A defend- 15 ant may be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole upon conviction 16 for the crime of aggravated murder as defined in subdivision two of 17 section 125.26 of this chapter. 18 § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 400.27 of the criminal procedure law, as 19 added by chapter 1 of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as follows: 20 1. Upon the conviction of a defendant for the offense of murder in the 21 first degree as defined by section 125.27 of the penal law, the court 22 shall promptly conduct a separate sentencing proceeding to determine 23 whether the defendant shall be sentenced to death or to life imprison- 24 ment without parole pursuant to subdivision five of section 70.00 of the 25 penal law. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to preclude the 26 people at any time from determining that the death penalty shall not be 27 sought in a particular case, in which case the separate sentencing 28 proceeding shall not be conducted and the court [may] shall sentence 29 such defendant to life imprisonment without parole [or to a sentence of30imprisonment for the class A-I felony of murder in the first degree31other than a sentence of life imprisonment without parole]. 32 § 4. Paragraphs (b), (c) and (e) of subdivision 12 of section 400.27 33 of the criminal procedure law, as added by chapter 1 of the laws of 34 1995, are amended to read as follows: 35 (b) In the event the defendant is sentenced pursuant to this section 36 to life imprisonment without parole [or to a term of imprisonment for37the class A-I felony of murder in the first degree other than a sentence38of life imprisonment without parole], the court shall not render a find- 39 ing with respect to whether the defendant is [mentally retarded] intel- 40 lectually disabled. 41 (c) In the event the defendant is sentenced pursuant to this section 42 to death, the court shall thereupon render a finding with respect to 43 whether the defendant is [mentally retarded] intellectually disabled. If 44 the court finds the defendant is [mentally retarded] intellectually 45 disabled, the court shall set aside the sentence of death and sentence 46 the defendant [either] to life imprisonment without parole [or to a term47of imprisonment for the class A-I felony of murder in the first degree48other than a sentence of life imprisonment without parole]. If the court 49 finds the defendant is not [mentally retarded] intellectually disabled, 50 then such sentence of death shall not be set aside pursuant to this 51 subdivision. 52 (e) The foregoing provisions of this subdivision notwithstanding, at a 53 reasonable time prior to the commencement of trial the defendant may, 54 upon a written motion alleging reasonable cause to believe the defendant 55 is mentally retarded] intellectually disabled, apply for an order 56 directing that a [mental retardation] intellectual disability hearing beA. 6885 4 1 conducted prior to trial. If, upon review of the defendant's motion and 2 any response thereto, the court finds reasonable cause to believe the 3 defendant is [mentally retarded] intellectually disabled, it shall 4 promptly conduct a hearing without a jury to determine whether the 5 defendant is [mentally retarded] intellectually disabled. In the event 6 the court finds after the hearing that the defendant is not [mentally7retarded] intellectually disabled, the court must, prior to commencement 8 of trial, enter an order so stating, but nothing in this paragraph shall 9 preclude a defendant from presenting mitigating evidence of [mental10retardation] intellectual disability at a separate sentencing proceed- 11 ing. In the event the court finds after the hearing that the defendant, 12 based upon a preponderance of the evidence, is [mentally retarded] 13 intellectually disabled, the court must, prior to commencement of trial, 14 enter an order so stating. Unless the order is reversed on an appeal by 15 the people or unless the provisions of paragraph (d) of this subdivision 16 apply, a separate sentencing proceeding under this section shall not be 17 conducted if the defendant is thereafter convicted of murder in the 18 first degree. In the event a separate sentencing proceeding is not 19 conducted, the court, upon conviction of a defendant for the crime of 20 murder in the first degree, shall sentence the defendant to life impri- 21 sonment without parole [or to a sentence of imprisonment for the class22A-I felony of murder in the first degree other than a sentence of life23imprisonment without parole]. Whenever a [mental retardation] intellec- 24 tual disability hearing is held and a finding is rendered pursuant to 25 this paragraph, the court may not conduct a hearing pursuant to para- 26 graph (a) of this subdivision. For purposes of this subdivision and 27 paragraph (b) of subdivision nine of this section,["mental retardation"] 28 "intellectual disability" means significantly subaverage general intel- 29 lectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive 30 behavior which were manifested before the age of eighteen. 31 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
