Bill Text: NY S02153 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Establishes incapacity to consent when a person is a witness to or subject of an investigation under certain circumstances.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-18 - PRINT NUMBER 2153A [S02153 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S02153-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         2153--A

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 20, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sens. MAY, BIAGGI, RAMOS -- read twice and ordered print-
          ed, and when printed to be committed to  the  Committee  on  Codes  --
          recommitted  to  the Committee on Codes in accordance with Senate Rule
          6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted  as
          amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to establishing incapacity to
          consent  when  a person is a witness to or subject of an investigation
          under certain circumstances

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Paragraphs (i) and (j) of subdivision 3 of section 130.05
     2  of the penal law, paragraph (i) as amended and paragraph (j) as added by
     3  section 1 of part JJ of chapter 55 of the laws of 2018, are amended  and
     4  a new paragraph (k) is added to read as follows:
     5    (i)  a  resident  or  inpatient  of  a  residential facility operated,
     6  licensed or certified by (i) the  office  of  mental  health;  (ii)  the
     7  office  for  people with developmental disabilities; or (iii) the office
     8  of [alcoholism and substance abuse] addiction services and supports, and
     9  the actor is an employee of the facility not married to such resident or
    10  inpatient. For purposes of this paragraph, "employee" means  either:  an
    11  employee  of the agency operating the residential facility, who knows or
    12  reasonably should know that such person is a resident  or  inpatient  of
    13  such  facility  and  who  provides direct care services, case management
    14  services, medical or other clinical services, habilitative  services  or
    15  direct  supervision  of the residents in the facility in which the resi-
    16  dent resides; or an officer or other employee, consultant, contractor or
    17  volunteer of the residential facility, who knows  or  reasonably  should
    18  know that the person is a resident of such facility and who is in direct
    19  contact  with  residents  or  inpatients;  provided,  however,  that the
    20  provisions of this paragraph shall only apply to a consultant,  contrac-
    21  tor  or  volunteer providing services pursuant to a contractual arrange-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04793-02-2

        S. 2153--A                          2

     1  ment with the agency operating the residential facility or, in the  case
     2  of  a  volunteer,  a written agreement with such facility, provided that
     3  the person received written notice concerning  the  provisions  of  this
     4  paragraph;  provided  further,  however,  "employee" shall not include a
     5  person with a developmental disability who is or was receiving  services
     6  and is also an employee of a service provider and who has sexual contact
     7  with  another  service  recipient  who  is  a  consenting  adult who has
     8  consented to such contact; [or]
     9    (j) detained or otherwise in the custody of a  police  officer,  peace
    10  officer,  or  other  law  enforcement official and the actor is a police
    11  officer, peace officer or other law enforcement official who either: (i)
    12  is detaining or maintaining custody of such person; or  (ii)  knows,  or
    13  reasonably should know, that at the time of the offense, such person was
    14  detained or in custody[.]; or
    15    (k)  a  witness  to  or victim of an incident under investigation by a
    16  police officer, peace officer or other law enforcement  official,  or  a
    17  suspect or person of interest in such an investigation, and the actor is
    18  a  police  officer,  peace officer or other law enforcement official who
    19  either: (i) is participating in the investigation of such  incident;  or
    20  (ii)  knows, or reasonably should know, that at the time of the offense,
    21  such person was a witness, victim, suspect, or  person  of  interest  in
    22  such investigation.  Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, a
    23  witness  to, victim, suspect, or person of interest in an incident under
    24  investigation by a police officer, peace officer, or other law  enforce-
    25  ment  official  shall not be deemed incapable of consent where the actor
    26  and such witness, victim, suspect, or person of interest had engaged  in
    27  a sexual relationship prior to the commencement of such investigation.
    28    §  2.  Subdivision 4 of section 130.10 of the penal law, as amended by
    29  section 2 of part JJ of chapter 55 of the laws of 2018,  is  amended  to
    30  read as follows:
    31    4. In any prosecution under this article in which the victim's lack of
    32  consent  is  based solely on his or her incapacity to consent because he
    33  or she was less than seventeen years old, mentally disabled, a client or
    34  patient and the actor is a health care provider, detained  or  otherwise
    35  in custody of law enforcement under the circumstances described in para-
    36  graph  (j)  of  subdivision  three  of section 130.05 of this article, a
    37  witness to or  subject  of  an  investigation  under  the  circumstances
    38  described  in  paragraph  (k)  of subdivision three of section 130.05 of
    39  this article, or committed to the care and custody or supervision of the
    40  state department of corrections and community supervision or a  hospital
    41  and  the  actor is an employee, it shall be a defense that the defendant
    42  was married to the victim as defined  in  subdivision  four  of  section
    43  130.00 of this article.
    44    §  3.  This  act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
    45  have become a law.
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