Bill Text: NY A06857 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Defines the term "necessary court appearance" for purposes of the determination of a crime victim's award to include any part of a proceeding from arraignment through sentencing, pre and post trial hearings and hearings before the parole board.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2017-11-29 - signed chap.416 [A06857 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-A06857-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          6857
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                     March 22, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by M. of A. ORTIZ -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Governmental Operations
        AN ACT to amend the executive law, in  relation  to  the  definition  of
          necessary court appearances for purposes of determining crime victim's
          award
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Subdivisions 8, 10 and 12 of section 631 of  the  executive
     2  law, subdivision 8 as amended by chapter 391 of the laws of 2003, subdi-
     3  vision  10  as added by chapter 197 of the laws of 1983, and subdivision
     4  12 as amended by chapter 188 of the laws of 2014, are amended to read as
     5  follows:
     6    8. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions one, two  and  three
     7  of  this  section,  an elderly or disabled victim who has not been phys-
     8  ically injured as a direct result of a crime, shall only be eligible for
     9  an award that includes the unreimbursed cost of repair or replacement of
    10  essential personal property that has been lost, damaged or destroyed  as
    11  a  direct result of a crime, transportation expenses incurred for neces-
    12  sary court appearances in connection with the prosecution of such crimes
    13  and the unreimbursed cost of counselling  provided  to  the  elderly  or
    14  disabled  victim  on  account of mental or emotional stress or financial
    15  counselling provided to the elderly or disabled  victim  on  account  of
    16  financial  difficulty  resulting  from  the  incident in which the crime
    17  occurred if such counselling or financial counselling is commenced with-
    18  in one year from the date of the incident.  For purposes of this  subdi-
    19  vision,  "necessary court appearances" shall include, but not be limited
    20  to, any part of trial from arraignment through sentencing, pre and  post
    21  trial hearings and grand jury hearings.
    22    10.  Notwithstanding  any  contrary  provision  of law, an award shall
    23  include reasonable transportation expenses incurred for necessary  court
    24  appearances in connection with the prosecution of such crimes upon which
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08622-01-7
        A. 6857                             2
     1  the  claim is based.  For purposes of this subdivision, "necessary court
     2  appearances" shall include but not be limited to any part of a  proceed-
     3  ing from arraignment through sentencing, pre and post trial hearings and
     4  grand jury hearings.
     5    12.  Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions one, two and three
     6  of this section, an individual who was a victim of either the  crime  of
     7  menacing  in the second degree as defined in subdivision two or three of
     8  section 120.14 of the penal law, menacing in the first degree as defined
     9  in section 120.13 of the penal law, criminal obstruction of breathing or
    10  blood circulation as defined in section 121.11 of the penal law, harass-
    11  ment in the second degree as defined in  subdivision  two  or  three  of
    12  section  240.26  of  the  penal  law,  harassment in the first degree as
    13  defined in section 240.25 of the penal law, aggravated harassment in the
    14  second degree as defined in subdivision five of section  240.30  of  the
    15  penal  law,  aggravated  harassment  in  the  first degree as defined in
    16  subdivision two of section 240.31 of the penal law, criminal contempt in
    17  the first degree as defined in paragraph (ii) or (iv) of subdivision (b)
    18  or subdivision (c) of section 215.51 of the penal law,  or  stalking  in
    19  the fourth, third, second or first degree as defined in sections 120.45,
    20  120.50,  120.55  and  120.60 of the penal law, respectively, who has not
    21  been physically injured as a direct result of such crime shall  only  be
    22  eligible  for  an  award  that  includes loss of earning or support, the
    23  unreimbursed cost of repair or replacement of essential personal proper-
    24  ty that has been lost, damaged or destroyed as a direct result  of  such
    25  crime,  the  unreimbursed  cost  for  security  devices  to  enhance the
    26  personal protection of such victim, transportation expenses incurred for
    27  necessary court [expenses] appearances in  connection  with  the  prose-
    28  cution  of  such crime, the unreimbursed costs of counseling provided to
    29  such victim on account of mental or emotional stress resulting from  the
    30  incident  in  which  the crime occurred, reasonable relocation expenses,
    31  and for occupational or job training.  For purposes of this subdivision,
    32  "necessary court appearances" shall include, but not be limited to,  any
    33  part  of  trial  from arraignment through sentencing, pre and post trial
    34  hearings and grand jury hearings.
    35    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.