STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4956
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 3, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sen. DIAZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to the crime of aggravated
murder involving certain business owners and their employees
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 and the opening paragraph of
2 subdivision 3 of section 125.26 of the penal law, paragraph (b) of
3 subdivision 2 as added and the opening paragraph of subdivision 3 as
4 amended by chapter 482 of the laws of 2009, are amended, subdivision 3
5 is renumbered subdivision 4 and a new subdivision 3 is added to read as
6 follows:
7 (b) The defendant was more than eighteen years old at the time of the
8 commission of the crime[.]; or
9 3. With intent to cause the death of the owner of a grocery store,
10 bodega, taxi cab or livery cab, or his or her employees, including driv-
11 ers, while such person is acting in the normal course of his or her
12 employment, he or she causes the death of such person.
13 In any prosecution under subdivision one [or], two or three of this
14 section, it is an affirmative defense that:
15 § 2. Subdivision 5 of section 70.00 of the penal law, as amended by
16 chapter 482 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
17 5. Life imprisonment without parole. Notwithstanding any other
18 provision of law, a defendant sentenced to life imprisonment without
19 parole shall not be or become eligible for parole or conditional
20 release. For purposes of commitment and custody, other than parole and
21 conditional release, such sentence shall be deemed to be an indetermi-
22 nate sentence. A defendant may be sentenced to life imprisonment with-
23 out parole upon conviction for the crime of murder in the first degree
24 as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter and in accordance with the
25 procedures provided by law for imposing a sentence for such crime. A
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07337-01-7
S. 4956 2
1 defendant must be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole upon
2 conviction for the crime of terrorism as defined in section 490.25 of
3 this chapter, where the specified offense the defendant committed is a
4 class A-I felony; the crime of criminal possession of a chemical weapon
5 or biological weapon in the first degree as defined in section 490.45 of
6 this chapter; or the crime of criminal use of a chemical weapon or
7 biological weapon in the first degree as defined in section 490.55 of
8 this chapter; provided, however, that nothing in this subdivision shall
9 preclude or prevent a sentence of death when the defendant is also
10 convicted of the crime of murder in the first degree as defined in
11 section 125.27 of this chapter. A defendant must be sentenced to life
12 imprisonment without parole upon conviction for the crime of murder in
13 the second degree as defined in subdivision five of section 125.25 of
14 this chapter or for the crime of aggravated murder as defined in subdi-
15 vision one of section 125.26 of this chapter. A defendant may be
16 sentenced to life imprisonment without parole upon conviction for the
17 crime of aggravated murder as defined in subdivision two or three of
18 section 125.26 of this chapter.
19 § 3. Section 60.06 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 482 of the
20 laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
21 § 60.06 Authorized disposition; murder in the first degree offenders;
22 aggravated murder offenders; certain murder in the second
23 degree offenders; certain terrorism offenders; criminal
24 possession of a chemical weapon or biological weapon offen-
25 ders; criminal use of a chemical weapon or biological weapon
26 offenders.
27 When a defendant is convicted of murder in the first degree as defined
28 in section 125.27 of this chapter, the court shall, in accordance with
29 the provisions of section 400.27 of the criminal procedure law, sentence
30 the defendant to death, to life imprisonment without parole in accord-
31 ance with subdivision five of section 70.00 of this title, or to a term
32 of imprisonment for a class A-I felony other than a sentence of life
33 imprisonment without parole, in accordance with subdivisions one through
34 three of section 70.00 of this title. When a person is convicted of
35 murder in the second degree as defined in subdivision five of section
36 125.25 of this chapter or of the crime of aggravated murder as defined
37 in subdivision one of section 125.26 of this chapter, the court shall
38 sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without parole in accordance
39 with subdivision five of section 70.00 of this title. When a defendant
40 is convicted of the crime of terrorism as defined in section 490.25 of
41 this chapter, and the specified offense the defendant committed is a
42 class A-I felony offense, or when a defendant is convicted of the crime
43 of criminal possession of a chemical weapon or biological weapon in the
44 first degree as defined in section 490.45 of this chapter, or when a
45 defendant is convicted of the crime of criminal use of a chemical weapon
46 or biological weapon in the first degree as defined in section 490.55 of
47 this chapter, the court shall sentence the defendant to life imprison-
48 ment without parole in accordance with subdivision five of section 70.00
49 of this title; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall
50 preclude or prevent a sentence of death when the defendant is also
51 convicted of murder in the first degree as defined in section 125.27 of
52 this chapter. When a defendant is convicted of aggravated murder as
53 defined in subdivision two or three of section 125.26 of this chapter,
54 the court shall sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without
55 parole or to a term of imprisonment for a class A-I felony other than a
S. 4956 3
1 sentence of life imprisonment without parole, in accordance with subdi-
2 visions one through three of section 70.00 of this title.
3 § 4. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
4 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.