Bill Text: NY S06945 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Creates the crime of unlawful dissemination or publication of discovery material; defines the circumstances under which a person is guilty of such crime; establishes that such crime is a class E felony.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - REFERRED TO CODES [S06945 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-S06945-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6945 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN SENATE May 20, 2021 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SERINO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the penal law and the criminal procedure law, in relation to creating the crime of unlawful dissemination or publica- tion of discovery material The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 215.09 to 2 read as follows: 3 § 215.09 Unlawful dissemination or publication of discovery material. 4 1. A person is guilty of unlawful dissemination or publication of 5 discovery material, when he or she: 6 a. Intentionally disseminates or publishes material defined under 7 section 245.20 of the criminal procedure law with the intent of intim- 8 idating or harassing another person; or 9 b. Intentionally disseminates or publishes material defined under 10 section 245.20 of the criminal procedure law to another person and he or 11 she knew or reasonably should have known that the person intended to use 12 the discovery material to intimidate or harass another person. 13 2. A person who is the defense counsel to a defendant in a legal 14 proceeding shall not be guilty of an offense under paragraph b of subdi- 15 vision one of this section, when communicating directly with the defend- 16 ant in accordance with article two hundred forty-five of the criminal 17 procedure law. 18 3. Under this section, "disseminates" and "publishes" shall have the 19 same meanings as under section 250.40 of this part. 20 Unlawful dissemination or publication of discovery material is a class 21 E felony. 22 § 2. Paragraphs (s) and (t) of subdivision 4 of section 510.10 of the 23 criminal procedure law, as added by section 2 of part UU of chapter 56 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD08046-01-1S. 6945 2 1 of the laws of 2020, are amended and a new paragraph (u) is added to 2 read as follows: 3 (s) a felony, where the defendant qualifies for sentencing on such 4 charge as a persistent felony offender pursuant to section 70.10 of the 5 penal law; [or] 6 (t) any felony or class A misdemeanor involving harm to an identifi- 7 able person or property, where such charge arose from conduct occurring 8 while the defendant was released on his or her own recognizance or 9 released under conditions for a separate felony or class A misdemeanor 10 involving harm to an identifiable person or property, provided, however, 11 that the prosecutor must show reasonable cause to believe that the 12 defendant committed the instant crime and any underlying crime. For the 13 purposes of this [subparagraph] paragraph, any of the underlying crimes 14 need not be a qualifying offense as defined in this subdivision[.]; or 15 (u) unlawful dissemination or publication of discovery material as 16 defined in section 215.09 of the penal law. 17 § 3. Subparagraphs (xix) and (xx) of paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of 18 section 530.20 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by section 3 of 19 part UU of chapter 56 of the laws of 2020, are amended and a new subpar- 20 agraph (xxi) is added to read as follows: 21 (xix) a felony, where the defendant qualifies for sentencing on such 22 charge as a persistent felony offender pursuant to section 70.10 of the 23 penal law; [or] 24 (xx) any felony or class A misdemeanor involving harm to an identifi- 25 able person or property, where such charge arose from conduct occurring 26 while the defendant was released on his or her own recognizance or 27 released under conditions for a separate felony or class A misdemeanor 28 involving harm to an identifiable person or property, provided, however, 29 that the prosecutor must show reasonable cause to believe that the 30 defendant committed the instant crime and any underlying crime. For the 31 purposes of this subparagraph, any of the underlying crimes need not be 32 a qualifying offense as defined in this subdivision[.]; or 33 (xxi) unlawful dissemination or publication of discovery material as 34 defined in section 215.09 of the penal law. 35 § 4. Paragraphs (s) and (t) of subdivision 4 of section 530.40 of the 36 criminal procedure law, as added by section 4 of part UU of chapter 56 37 of the laws of 2020, are amended and a new paragraph (u) is added to 38 read as follows: 39 (s) a felony, where the defendant qualifies for sentencing on such 40 charge as a persistent felony offender pursuant to section 70.10 of the 41 penal law; [or] 42 (t) any felony or class A misdemeanor involving harm to an identifi- 43 able person or property, where such charge arose from conduct occurring 44 while the defendant was released on his or her own recognizance or 45 released under conditions for a separate felony or class A misdemeanor 46 involving harm to an identifiable person or property, provided, however, 47 that the prosecutor must show reasonable cause to believe that the 48 defendant committed the instant crime and any underlying crime. For the 49 purposes of this [subparagraph] paragraph, any of the underlying crimes 50 need not be a qualifying offense as defined in this subdivision[.]; or 51 (u) unlawful dissemination or publication of discovery material as 52 defined in section 215.09 of the penal law. 53 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
