Bill Text: NY A08401 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Provides for the establishment of a sexual assault victim bill of rights by the department of health, in consultation with the division of criminal justice services and the office of victim services; establishes a victim's right to notice.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 26-5)
Status: (Passed) 2018-12-21 - signed chap.407 [A08401 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-A08401-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8401--C 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY June 13, 2017 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. SIMOTAS, OTIS, DINOWITZ, DICKENS, QUART, DE LA ROSA, NIOU, RIVERA, MOSLEY, BARRON, McDONALD, ZEBROWSKI, CROUCH, SIMON, GOTTFRIED, CAHILL, GIGLIO, HEVESI, PELLEGRINO, GALEF, GLICK, WEPRIN, L. ROSENTHAL -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. ABBATE, BRAUN- STEIN, M. L. MILLER -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health -- recommitted to the Committee on Health in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- again reported from said committee with amendments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- reported and referred to the Committee on Codes -- reported and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means -- reported and referred to the Committee on Rules -- Rules Committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the public health law and the executive law, in relation to establishing a sexual assault victim bill of rights; and to amend the executive law, in relation to maintenance of sexual assault evidence, establishing a victim's right to notice prior to destruction The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 6 of section 2805-i of the public health law is 2 renumbered subdivision 7 and a new subdivision 6 is added to read as 3 follows: 4 6. (a) The department, in consultation with the division of criminal 5 justice services, the office of victim services, hospitals, other health 6 care providers and victim advocacy organizations, shall publish a sexual 7 assault victim bill of rights for purposes of informing sexual offense 8 victims of their rights under state law. Such bill of rights shall be 9 prominently published on the department's website, in at least the ten 10 most common languages spoken in this state, and distributed to hospitals 11 as a document which shall be provided to every presenting sexual offense EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11584-20-8A. 8401--C 2 1 victim. The department may update the bill of rights as necessary to 2 reflect changes in state law and more accurately explain the law. Such 3 bill of rights shall be in plain, easy to understand language, and 4 include the right of the victim to: 5 (1) consult with a local rape crisis or local victim assistance organ- 6 ization, to have a representative of such organization accompany the 7 victim through the sexual offense examination, and to have such an 8 organization be summoned by the medical facility, police agency, prose- 9 cutorial agency or other law enforcement agency before the commencement 10 of the physical examination or interview, pursuant to this section; 11 (2) be offered and have made available at no cost appropriate post-ex- 12 posure treatment therapies, including a seven day starter pack of HIV 13 post-exposure prophylaxis in accordance with paragraph (c) of subdivi- 14 sion one of this section and subdivision thirteen of section six hundred 15 thirty-one of the executive law; 16 (3) a health care forensic examination at no cost and the right to be 17 notified of the option to decline to provide private health insurance 18 information and have the office of victim services reimburse the hospi- 19 tal for the examination under subdivision thirteen of section six 20 hundred thirty-one of the executive law; 21 (4) receive information relating to and the provision of emergency 22 contraception in accordance with section twenty-eight hundred five-p of 23 this article; 24 (5) be offered contact information for the police agency, prosecutori- 25 al agency or other law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the 26 sexual offense and be informed, upon request of the victim, of the date 27 and location at which such sexual offense evidence kit was assessed for 28 Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) eligibility and analyzed, whether a 29 CODIS eligible profile was developed and whether or not a DNA match was 30 identified, provided, however, that the police agency, prosecutorial 31 agency or other law enforcement agency serving the jurisdiction may 32 temporarily delay release of such DNA match information to the victim, 33 prior to the arrest of a suspect alleged to have committed such offense, 34 if such agency documents in writing and notifies the victim that release 35 of such information would compromise the successful investigation of 36 such sexual offense; 37 (6) be notified between thirty and ten days prior to the transfer of a 38 sexual offense evidence kit from the hospital to another storage facili- 39 ty in accordance with paragraph (h) of subdivision two of this section, 40 the right to have a sexual offense evidence kit maintained at an appro- 41 priate storage facility for twenty years from the date of collection, 42 the right, if not previously consented to, to consent to release the 43 evidence to law enforcement at any time during the twenty years from 44 collection, and the right to be notified by such facility at least nine- 45 ty days prior to the expiration of the twenty-year storage period in 46 accordance with paragraph (k) of subdivision two of this section; and 47 (7) be notified by the prosecutorial agency with jurisdiction of judi- 48 cial proceedings relating to their case in accordance with article twen- 49 ty-three of the executive law; and 50 (8) decide whether or not the victim wishes to report the offense to 51 law enforcement. 52 (b) Before a medical facility commences a physical examination of a 53 sexual offense victim, or a police agency, prosecutorial agency or other 54 law enforcement agency commences an interview of a sexual offense 55 victim, the health care professional conducting the exam, police agency, 56 prosecutorial agency or other law enforcement agency shall inform theA. 8401--C 3 1 victim of the victim's rights by providing a copy of this sexual assault 2 victim bill of rights and offering to explain such rights. 3 § 2. Paragraph (f) of subdivision 1 of section 838-a of the executive 4 law, as added by chapter 6 of the laws of 2017, is amended, subdivision 5 3 is renumbered subdivision 4 and a new subdivision 3 is added to read 6 as follows: 7 (f) The failure of any such police agency, prosecutorial agency or 8 forensic laboratory to comply with a time limit specified in this 9 section or section eight hundred thirty-eight-b of this article shall 10 not, in and of itself, constitute a basis for a motion to suppress 11 evidence in accordance with section 710.20 of the criminal procedure 12 law. 13 3. Each police agency, prosecutorial agency and other law enforcement 14 agency within this state shall adopt policies and procedures concerning 15 contact with victims of sexual offenses, and the provision of informa- 16 tion to victims upon request, concerning sexual offense evidence 17 collected or received from them. The policies and procedures shall be 18 victim-focused, meaning systematically focused on the needs and concerns 19 of victims to ensure the compassionate and sensitive delivery of 20 services in a nonjudgemental manner, and shall include, at a minimum, a 21 requirement that: 22 (a) the police agency, prosecutorial agency or other law enforcement 23 agency designate at least one person, who is trained in trauma and 24 victim response through a program meeting minimum standards established 25 by the division of criminal justice services, following appropriate 26 guidelines on evidence-based, trauma-informed practices, which may 27 include guidelines from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 28 Administration, within its agency to receive all inquiries concerning 29 sexual offense evidence kits from victims; and 30 (b) at the time that a sexual offense evidence kit is collected, a 31 victim shall be provided with: (i) a copy of the victim bill of rights 32 described in subdivision six of section twenty-eight hundred five-i of 33 the public health law; and (ii) contact information, including a name, 34 phone number and e-mail address, for the individual designated pursuant 35 to paragraph (a) of this subdivision at the police agency, prosecutorial 36 agency or other law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the sexual 37 offense. 38 § 3. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 838-b to 39 read as follows: 40 § 838-b. Victim's right to notice. Each police agency, prosecutorial 41 agency and other law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over a sexual 42 offense shall, upon request of the victim who has consented to report 43 such offense to law enforcement, provide the sexual offense victim with 44 notice of the date and location at which sexual offense evidence 45 collected or received from such victim is assessed for CODIS eligibility 46 and analyzed, whether a CODIS eligible profile was developed and whether 47 or not a DNA match was identified, provided, however, that the police 48 agency, prosecutorial agency or other law enforcement agency serving the 49 jurisdiction may temporarily delay release of such DNA match information 50 to the victim, prior to the arrest of a suspect alleged to have commit- 51 ted such offense, if such agency documents in writing and notifies the 52 victim that release of such information would compromise the successful 53 investigation of such sexual offense. The police or prosecutorial agen- 54 cy or other law enforcement agency in possession of a sexual offense 55 evidence kit shall notify the sexual offense victim at least ninety days 56 prior to the expiration of the twenty-year storage period in accordanceA. 8401--C 4 1 with paragraph (k) of subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred 2 five-i of the public health law. 3 § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 4 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, however, the addi- 5 tion, amendment, and/or repeal of any rules and regulations necessary to 6 implement the provisions of this act on its effective date, including 7 the compiling of the sexual assault victim bill of rights required by 8 section one of this act, are authorized and directed to be completed on 9 or before such effective date.