Bill Text: NY A08488 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Ends the imposition of a sentence of life without parole and the death penalty.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - referred to codes [A08488 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-A08488-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8488 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY November 17, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. CARROLL -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Codes AN ACT to amend the penal law, the correction law, the criminal proce- dure law, and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to ending the imposition of a sentence of life without parole or death; and to repeal certain provisions of the penal law, the correction law, the criminal procedure law, the county law, the execu- tive law, and the judiciary law, relating thereto The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 60.05 of the penal law, as amended 2 by chapter 738 of the laws of 2004, is amended to read as follows: 3 2. Class A felony. Except as provided in subdivisions three and four 4 of section 70.06 of this chapter, every person convicted of a class A 5 felony must be sentenced to imprisonment in accordance with section 6 70.00 of this title[, unless such person is convicted of murder in the7first degree and is sentenced in accordance with section 60.06 of this8article]. 9 § 2. Section 60.06 of the penal law is REPEALED. 10 § 3. Subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 11 70.00 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 107 of the laws of 2006, 12 is amended to read as follows: 13 (i) For a class A-I felony, such minimum period shall not be less than 14 fifteen years nor more than twenty-five years; provided, however, that 15 (A) where a sentence, other than a sentence of death or life imprison- 16 ment [without parole], is imposed upon a defendant convicted of murder 17 in the first degree as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter such 18 minimum period shall be not less than twenty years nor more than twen- 19 ty-five years, and, (B) where a sentence is imposed upon a defendant 20 convicted of murder in the second degree as defined in subdivision five 21 of section 125.25 of this chapter or convicted of aggravated murder as EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD13043-01-1A. 8488 2 1 defined in section 125.26 of this chapter, the sentence shall be life 2 imprisonment [without parole], and, (C) where a sentence is imposed upon 3 a defendant convicted of attempted murder in the first degree as defined 4 in article one hundred ten of this chapter and subparagraph (i), (ii) or 5 (iii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision one and paragraph (b) of subdivi- 6 sion one of section 125.27 of this chapter or attempted aggravated 7 murder as defined in article one hundred ten of this chapter and section 8 125.26 of this chapter such minimum period shall be not less than twenty 9 years nor more than forty years. 10 § 4. Subdivision 5 of section 70.00 of the penal law is REPEALED. 11 § 5. Subdivision 2-a of section 70.20 of the penal law is REPEALED. 12 § 6. Subdivision 3 and paragraph (a) of subdivision 7 of section 70.80 13 of the penal law, as added by chapter 7 of the laws of 2007, are amended 14 to read as follows: 15 3. Except as provided by subdivision four, five, six, seven or eight 16 of this section, or when a defendant is being sentenced for a conviction 17 of the class A-II felonies of predatory sexual assault and predatory 18 sexual assault against a child as defined in sections 130.95 and 130.96 19 of this chapter, or for any class A-I sexually motivated felony for 20 which a life sentence [or a life without parole sentence] must be 21 imposed, a sentence imposed upon a defendant convicted of a felony sex 22 offense shall be a determinate sentence. The determinate sentence shall 23 be imposed by the court in whole or half years, and shall include as a 24 part thereof a period of post-release supervision in accordance with 25 subdivision two-a of section 70.45 of this article. Persons eligible for 26 sentencing under section 70.07 of this article governing second child 27 sexual assault felonies shall be sentenced under such section and para- 28 graph (j) of subdivision two-a of section 70.45 of this article. 29 (a) [section 60.06 of this chapter and] section 70.00 of this arti- 30 cle[, as applicable,] if such offense is a class A-I felony; and 31 § 7. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 2 of section 490.25 of the penal law 32 is REPEALED. 33 § 8. The closing paragraph of section 490.28 of the penal law is 34 REPEALED. 35 § 9. Section 113 of the correction law, as amended by chapter 322 of 36 the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 37 § 113. Absence of incarcerated individual for funeral and deathbed 38 visits authorized. The commissioner may permit any incarcerated individ- 39 ual confined by the department [except one awaiting the sentence of40death] to attend the funeral of his or her father, mother, guardian or 41 former guardian, child, brother, sister, husband, wife, grandparent, 42 grandchild, ancestral uncle or ancestral aunt within the state, or to 43 visit such individual during his or her illness if death be imminent; 44 but the exercise of such power shall be subject to such rules and regu- 45 lations as the commissioner shall prescribe, respecting the granting of 46 such permission, duration of absence from the institution, custody, 47 transportation and care of the incarcerated individual, and guarding 48 against escape. Any expense incurred under the provisions of this 49 section, with respect to any incarcerated individual permitted to attend 50 a funeral or visit a relative during last illness, shall be deemed an 51 expense of maintenance of the institution and be paid from moneys avail- 52 able therefor; but the superintendent, if the rules and regulations of 53 the commissioner shall so provide, may allow the incarcerated individual 54 or anyone in his or her behalf to reimburse the state for such expense. 55 § 10. Section 130 of the correction law is REPEALED.A. 8488 3 1 § 11. Subdivision 2 of section 136 of the correction law, as amended 2 by chapter 322 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 3 2. All incarcerated individuals admitted to the department serving a 4 determinate term of imprisonment, or an indeterminate sentence of impri- 5 sonment [other than a sentence of life imprisonment without parole], who 6 have been evaluated upon admission pursuant to subdivision one of 7 section one hundred thirty-seven of this article and are determined to 8 be capable of successfully completing the academic course work required 9 for the test assessing secondary completion, shall be provided with the 10 opportunity to complete such course work at least two months prior to 11 the date on which such incarcerated individual may be paroled, condi- 12 tionally released, released to post-release supervision pursuant to 13 section 70.40 of the penal law, or presumptively released, pursuant to 14 section eight hundred three of this chapter. Upon admission to the 15 department, such incarcerated individuals will be provided with written 16 notice that the test assessing secondary completion programs are avail- 17 able for all incarcerated individuals who so apply. 18 § 12. Article 22-B of the correction law is REPEALED. 19 § 13. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 195.10 of the criminal 20 procedure law, as amended by chapter 401 of the laws of 2008, is amended 21 to read as follows: 22 (b) the defendant is not charged with a class A felony punishable by 23 [death or] life imprisonment; and 24 § 14. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 5 of section 220.10 of the criminal 25 procedure law, as amended by chapter 1 of the laws of 1995, is amended 26 to read as follows: 27 (e) A defendant may not enter a plea of guilty to the crime of murder 28 in the first degree as defined in section 125.27 of the penal law; 29 provided, however, that a defendant may enter such a plea with both the 30 permission of the court and the consent of the people when the agreed 31 upon sentence is [either life imprisonment without parole or] a term of 32 imprisonment for the class A-I felony of murder in the first degree 33 [other than a sentence of life imprisonment without parole]. 34 § 15. Subparagraph (vii) of paragraph (b) of subdivision 3 of section 35 220.30 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by chapter 1 of the 36 laws of 1995, is amended to read as follows: 37 (vii) A defendant may not enter a plea of guilty to the crime of 38 murder in the first degree as defined in section 125.27 of the penal 39 law; provided, however, that a defendant may enter such a plea with both 40 the permission of the court and the consent of the people when the 41 agreed upon sentence is [either life imprisonment without parole or] a 42 term of imprisonment for the class A-I felony of murder in the first 43 degree [other than a sentence of life imprisonment without parole]. 44 § 16. Section 250.40 of the criminal procedure law is REPEALED. 45 § 17. Section 270.16 of the criminal procedure law is REPEALED. 46 § 18. Paragraphs (e) and (f) of subdivision 1 of section 270.20 of the 47 criminal procedure law, paragraph (e) as amended by chapter 68 of the 48 laws of 1989 and paragraph (f) as amended by chapter 1 of the laws of 49 1995, are amended to read as follows: 50 (e) He served on the grand jury which found the indictment in issue 51 or served on a trial jury in a prior civil or criminal action involving 52 the same incident charged in such indictment[; or53(f) The crime charged may be punishable by death and the prospective54juror entertains such conscientious opinions either against or in favor55of such punishment as to preclude such juror from rendering an impartial56verdict or from properly exercising the discretion conferred upon suchA. 8488 4 1juror by law in the determination of a sentence pursuant to section2400.27]. 3 § 19. Subdivision 2 of section 270.30 of the criminal procedure law is 4 REPEALED. 5 § 20. Section 270.55 of the criminal procedure law is REPEALED. 6 § 21. Section 310.80 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by 7 chapter 1 of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as follows: 8 § 310.80 Recording and checking of verdict and polling of jury. 9 After a verdict has been rendered, it must be recorded on the minutes 10 and read to the jury, and the jurors must be collectively asked whether 11 such is their verdict. Even though no juror makes any declaration in the 12 negative, the jury must, if either party makes such an application, be 13 polled and each juror separately asked whether the verdict announced by 14 the foreman is in all respects his verdict. If upon either the collec- 15 tive or the separate inquiry any juror answers in the negative, the 16 court must refuse to accept the verdict and must direct the jury to 17 resume its deliberation. If no disagreement is expressed, the jury must 18 be discharged from the case[, except as otherwise provided in section19400.27]. 20 § 22. Section 380.60 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by 21 chapter 177 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows: 22 § 380.60 Authority for the execution of sentence. 23 [Except where a sentence of death is pronounced, a] A sentence and 24 commitment or certificate of conviction showing the sentence pronounced 25 by the court, or a certified copy thereof, constitutes the authority for 26 execution of the sentence and serves as the order of commitment, and no 27 other warrant, order of commitment or authority is necessary to justify 28 or to require execution of the sentence. 29 § 23. Section 400.27 of the criminal procedure law is REPEALED. 30 § 24. Subdivision 1 of section 440.20 of the criminal procedure law, 31 as amended by chapter 1 of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as 32 follows: 33 1. At any time after the entry of a judgment, the court in which the 34 judgment was entered may, upon motion of the defendant, set aside the 35 sentence upon the ground that it was unauthorized, illegally imposed or 36 otherwise invalid as a matter of law. [Where the judgment includes a37sentence of death, the court may also set aside the sentence upon any of38the grounds set forth in paragraph (b), (c), (f), (g) or (h) of subdivi-39sion one of section 440.10 as applied to a separate sentencing proceed-40ing under section 400.27, provided, however, that to the extent the41ground or grounds asserted include one or more of the aforesaid para-42graphs of subdivision one of section 440.10, the court must also apply43subdivisions two and three of section 440.10, other than paragraph (d)44of subdivision two of such section, in determining the motion. In the45event the court enters an order granting a motion to set aside a46sentence of death under this section, the court must either direct a new47sentencing proceeding in accordance with section 400.27 or, to the48extent that the defendant cannot be resentenced to death consistent with49the laws of this state or the constitution of this state or of the50United States, resentence the defendant to life imprisonment without51parole or to a sentence of imprisonment for the class A-I felony of52murder in the first degree other than a sentence of life imprisonment53without parole. Upon granting the motion upon any of the grounds set54forth in the aforesaid paragraphs of subdivision one of section 440.1055and setting aside the sentence, the court must afford the people a56reasonable period of time, which shall not be less than ten days, toA. 8488 5 1determine whether to take an appeal from the order setting aside the2sentence of death. The taking of an appeal by the people stays the3effectiveness of that portion of the court's order that directs a new4sentencing proceeding.] 5 § 25. Section 450.10 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by 6 chapter 671 of the laws of 1971, subdivisions 1 and 2 as amended by 7 chapter 671 of the laws of 1984, subdivision 3 as added and subdivision 8 4 as renumbered by chapter 516 of the laws of 1986 and subdivision 5 as 9 added by chapter 560 of the laws of 1999, is amended to read as follows: 10 § 450.10 Appeal by defendant to intermediate appellate court; in what 11 cases authorized as of right. 12 An appeal to an intermediate appellate court may be taken as of right 13 by the defendant from the following judgment, sentence and order of a 14 criminal court: 15 1. A judgment [other than one including a sentence of death], unless 16 the appeal is based solely upon the ground that a sentence was harsh or 17 excessive when such sentence was predicated upon entry of a plea of 18 guilty and the sentence imposed did not exceed that which was agreed to 19 by the defendant as a condition of the plea and set forth on the record 20 or filed with the court as required by subdivision five of section 21 220.50 or subdivision four of section 340.20; 22 2. A sentence [other than one of death], as prescribed in subdivision 23 one of section 450.30, unless the appeal is based solely upon the ground 24 that a sentence was harsh or excessive when such sentence was predicated 25 upon entry of a plea of guilty and the sentence imposed did not exceed 26 that which was agreed to by the defendant as a condition of the plea and 27 set forth in the record or filed with the court as required by subdivi- 28 sion five of section 220.50 or subdivision four of section 340.20; 29 3. A sentence including an order of criminal forfeiture entered pursu- 30 ant to section 460.30 of the penal law with respect to such forfeiture 31 order. 32 4. An order, entered pursuant to section 440.40, setting aside a 33 sentence [other than one of death], upon motion of the People. 34 5. An order denying a motion, made pursuant to subdivision one-a of 35 section 440.30, for forensic DNA testing of evidence. 36 § 26. Section 450.15 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by 37 chapter 671 of the laws of 1984, is amended to read as follows: 38 § 450.15 Appeal by defendant to intermediate appellate court; in what 39 cases authorized by permission. 40 If an appeal by defendant is not authorized as of right pursuant to 41 section 450.10, the defendant may appeal from the following orders of a 42 criminal court, provided that a certificate granting leave to appeal is 43 issued pursuant to section 460.15: 44 1. An order denying a motion, made pursuant to section 440.10, to 45 vacate a judgment [other than one including a sentence of death]; 46 2. An order denying a motion by the defendant made pursuant to section 47 440.20, to set aside a sentence [other than one of death]; 48 3. A sentence which is not otherwise appealable as of right pursuant 49 to subdivision one or two of section 450.10. 50 § 27. Subdivisions 4, 5, 6 and 7 of section 450.20 of the criminal 51 procedure law are amended to read as follows: 52 4. A sentence [other than one of death,] as prescribed in subdivisions 53 two and three of section 450.30; 54 5. An order, entered pursuant to section 440.10, vacating a judgment 55 [other than one including a sentence of death];A. 8488 6 1 6. An order, entered pursuant to section 440.20, setting aside a 2 sentence [other than one of death]; 3 7. An order denying a motion by the people, made pursuant to section 4 440.40, to set aside a sentence [other than one of death]; 5 § 28. Subdivision 10 of section 450.20 of the criminal procedure law 6 is REPEALED and subdivision 11 is renumbered subdivision 10. 7 § 29. Section 450.70 of the criminal procedure law is REPEALED. 8 § 30. Section 450.80 of the criminal procedure law is REPEALED. 9 § 31. Section 460.40 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by 10 chapter 209 of the laws of 1990, subdivision 2 as amended and subdivi- 11 sion 3 as added by chapter 1 of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as 12 follows: 13 § 460.40 Effect of taking of appeal upon judgment or order of courts 14 below; when stayed. 15 [1. The taking of an appeal by the defendant directly to the court of16appeals, pursuant to subdivision one of section 450.70, from a superior17court judgment including a sentence of death stays the execution of such18sentence. Except as provided in subdivision two of this section, in no19other case does the taking of an appeal, by either party, in and of20itself stay the execution of any judgment, sentence or order of either a21criminal court or an intermediate appellate court.222.] The taking of an appeal by the people to an intermediate appellate 23 court pursuant to subdivision one-a of section 450.20, from an order 24 reducing a count or counts of an indictment or dismissing an indictment 25 and directing the filing of a prosecutor's information, stays the effect 26 of such order. In addition, the taking of an appeal by the people to an 27 intermediate appellate court pursuant to subdivision one of section 28 450.20, from an order dismissing a count or counts of an indictment 29 charging murder in the first degree, stays the effect of such order. 30 [3. Within six months of the effective date of this subdivision, the31court of appeals shall adopt rules to ensure that a defendant is granted32a stay of the execution of any death warrant issued pursuant to article33twenty-two-B of the correction law to allow the defendant an opportunity34to prepare and timely file an initial motion pursuant to section 440.1035or 440.20 seeking to set aside a sentence of death or vacate a judgment36including a sentence of death and to allow the motion and any appeal37from the denial thereof to be timely determined. The rules shall provide38that in the event a defendant seeks to file any subsequent motion with39respect to the judgment or sentence following a final determination of40the defendant's initial motion pursuant to section 440.10 or 440.20, a41motion for a stay of the execution of the death warrant may only be42granted for good cause shown. The people and the defendant shall have a43right to appeal to the court of appeals from orders granting or denying44such stay motions and any rules adopted pursuant to this subdivision45shall provide that the court of appeals may affirm such orders, reverse46them or modify them upon such terms as the court deems appropriate and47shall provide for the expeditious perfection and determination of such48appeals. Prior to adoption of the rules, the court of appeals shall49issue proposed rules and receive written comments thereon from inter-50ested parties.] 51 § 32. Section 470.30 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by 52 chapter 1 of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as follows: 53 § 470.30 Determination by court of appeals of appeals taken directly 54 thereto from judgments and orders of criminal courts. 55 1. Wherever appropriate, the rules set forth in sections 470.15 and 56 470.20, governing the consideration and determination by intermediateA. 8488 7 1 appellate courts of appeals thereto from judgments and orders of crimi- 2 nal courts, and prescribing their scope of review and the corrective 3 action to be taken by them upon reversal or modification, apply equally 4 to the consideration and determination by the court of appeals of 5 appeals taken directly thereto[, pursuant to sections 450.70 and6450.80,] from judgments and orders of superior criminal courts. 7 [2. Whenever a sentence of death is imposed, the judgment and sentence8shall be reviewed on the record by the court of appeals. Review by the9court of appeals pursuant to subdivision one of section 450.70 may not10be waived.113. With regard to the sentence, the court shall, in addition to exer-12cising the powers and scope of review granted under subdivision one of13this section, determine:14(a) whether the sentence of death was imposed under the influence of15passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary or legally impermissible16factor including whether the imposition of the verdict or sentence was17based upon the race of the defendant or a victim of the crime for which18the defendant was convicted;19(b) whether the sentence of death is excessive or disproportionate to20the penalty imposed in similar cases considering both the crime and the21defendant. In conducting such review the court, upon request of the22defendant, in addition to any other determination, shall review whether23the sentence of death is excessive or disproportionate to the penalty24imposed in similar cases by virtue of the race of the defendant or a25victim of the crime for which the defendant was convicted; and26(c) whether the decision to impose the sentence of death was against27the weight of the evidence.284. The court shall include in its decision:29(a) the aggravating and mitigating factors established in the record30on appeal; and31(b) those similar cases it took into consideration.325. In addition to exercising any other corrective action pursuant to33subdivision one of this section, the court, with regard to review of a34sentence of death, shall be authorized to:35(a) affirm the sentence of death; or36(b) set the sentence aside and remand the case for resentencing pursu-37ant to the procedures set forth in section 400.27 for a determination as38to whether the defendant shall be sentenced to death, life imprisonment39without parole or to a term of imprisonment for the class A-I felony of40murder in the first degree other than a sentence of life imprisonment41without parole; or42(c) set the sentence aside and remand the case for resentencing by the43court for a determination as to whether the defendant shall be sentenced44to life imprisonment without parole or to a term of imprisonment for the45class A-I felony of murder in the first degree other than a sentence of46life imprisonment without parole.] 47 § 33. Subdivision 4 of section 630.20 of the criminal procedure law is 48 REPEALED. 49 § 34. Subdivision 1 of section 650.20 of the criminal procedure law is 50 amended to read as follows: 51 1. When (a) a criminal action is pending in a court of record of this 52 state, or a grand jury proceeding has been commenced, and (b) there is 53 reasonable cause to believe that a person confined in a correctional 54 institution or prison of another state, other than a person [awaiting55execution of a sentence of death or one] confined as mentally ill or as 56 a defective delinquent, possesses information material to such criminalA. 8488 8 1 action or proceeding, and (c) the attendance of such person as a witness 2 in such action or proceeding is desired by a party thereto, and (d) the 3 state in which such person is confined possesses a statute equivalent to 4 section 650.10, the court in which such action or proceeding is pending 5 may issue a certificate under the seal of such court, certifying all 6 such facts and that the attendance of such person as a witness in such 7 court is required for a specified number of days. 8 § 35. Section 707 of the county law is REPEALED. 9 § 36. Section 63-d of the executive law is REPEALED. 10 § 37. Section 837-l of the executive law is REPEALED. 11 § 38. Section 35-b of the judiciary law is REPEALED. 12 § 39. Section 211-a of the judiciary law is REPEALED. 13 § 40. Subdivision c of section 24-355 of the administrative code of 14 the city of New York is amended to read as follows: 15 c. It shall be the special duty of the persons so appointed to prevent 16 breaches of the peace and unlawful depredations and to arrest and bring 17 before the proper magistrates persons employed on such works or found in 18 the vicinity thereof, who are guilty of offenses against the law punish- 19 able by [death,] imprisonment or fines, or persons whom they may have 20 reasonable cause to believe to be guilty of such offenses. 21 § 41. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day 22 after it shall have become a law.
