Bill Text: NY A02400 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Limits the extreme emotional disturbance affirmative defense by removing the discovery, knowledge or disclosure of the victim's sexual orientation, sex, gender or sex assigned at birth from the defense.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 24-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to codes [A02400 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A02400-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          2400
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    January 22, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by M. of A. BARNWELL -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BRON-
          SON, COOK, DE LA ROSA, D'URSO,  ENGLEBRIGHT,  GALEF,  HUNTER,  MOSLEY,
          PHEFFER AMATO, D. ROSENTHAL, SIMON, STIRPE, TAYLOR, WALLACE, ZEBROWSKI
          -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes
        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  penal  law, in relation to limiting the extreme
          emotional disturbance affirmative defense
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  Paragraph  (a)  of subdivision 1 of section 125.25 of the
     2  penal law, as amended by chapter 791 of the laws of 1967, is amended  to
     3  read as follows:
     4    (a)  The  defendant  acted  under  the  influence of extreme emotional
     5  disturbance for which there was a reasonable explanation or excuse,  the
     6  reasonableness  of  which  is  to  be determined from the viewpoint of a
     7  person in the defendant's  situation  under  the  circumstances  as  the
     8  defendant  believed  them  to  be, provided, however, it shall not be an
     9  affirmative defense that the defendant  acted  under  the  influence  of
    10  extreme  emotional  disturbance upon the discovery, knowledge or disclo-
    11  sure of the victim's sexual orientation, sex, gender or sex assigned  at
    12  birth.    Nothing contained in this paragraph shall constitute a defense
    13  to a prosecution for, or preclude a conviction of, manslaughter  in  the
    14  first degree or any other crime; or
    15    §  2.  Paragraph  (a)  of subdivision 3 of section 125.26 of the penal
    16  law, as added by chapter 765 of the laws of 2005 and such subdivision as
    17  renumbered by chapter 482 of the laws of 2009, is  amended  to  read  as
    18  follows:
    19    (a)  The  defendant  acted  under  the  influence of extreme emotional
    20  disturbance for which there was a reasonable explanation or excuse,  the
    21  reasonableness  of  which  is  to  be determined from the viewpoint of a
    22  person in the defendant's  situation  under  the  circumstances  as  the
    23  defendant  believed  them  to  be, provided, however, it shall not be an
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02215-01-9
        A. 2400                             2
     1  affirmative defense that the defendant  acted  under  the  influence  of
     2  extreme  emotional  disturbance upon the discovery, knowledge or disclo-
     3  sure of the victim's sexual orientation, sex, gender or sex assigned  at
     4  birth.    Nothing contained in this paragraph shall constitute a defense
     5  to  a  prosecution  for,  or  preclude  a  conviction   of,   aggravated
     6  manslaughter  in  the  first degree, manslaughter in the first degree or
     7  any other crime except murder in the second degree; or
     8    § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section  125.27  of  the  penal
     9  law,  as added by chapter 367 of the laws of 1974, is amended to read as
    10  follows:
    11    (a) The defendant acted  under  the  influence  of  extreme  emotional
    12  disturbance  for which there was a reasonable explanation or excuse, the
    13  reasonableness of which is to be determined  from  the  viewpoint  of  a
    14  person  in  the  defendant's  situation  under  the circumstances as the
    15  defendant believed them to be, provided, however, it  shall  not  be  an
    16  affirmative  defense  that  the  defendant  acted under the influence of
    17  extreme emotional disturbance upon the discovery, knowledge  or  disclo-
    18  sure  of the victim's sexual orientation, sex, gender or sex assigned at
    19  birth.  Nothing contained in this paragraph shall constitute  a  defense
    20  to  a  prosecution for, or preclude a conviction of, manslaughter in the
    21  first degree or any other crime except murder in the second degree; or
    22    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.