Bill Text: NY A07472 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Makes life imprisonment without parole mandatory for defendants convicted of murder in the first degree or second degree and the victim is a police officer, peace officer, first responder or correctional officer.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 28-1)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to codes [A07472 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A07472-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7472 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY May 24, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ANGELINO -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Codes AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to making life imprisonment without parole mandatory for defendants convicted of murder in the first degree or second degree and the victim is a police officer, peace officer, first responder or correctional officer The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 60.06 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 482 2 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows: 3 § 60.06 Authorized disposition; murder in the first degree offenders; 4 aggravated murder offenders; certain murder in the second 5 degree offenders; certain terrorism offenders; criminal 6 possession of a chemical weapon or biological weapon offen- 7 ders; criminal use of a chemical weapon or biological weapon 8 offenders. 9 When a defendant is convicted of murder in the first degree as defined 10 in section 125.27 of this chapter, the court shall, in accordance with 11 the provisions of section 400.27 of the criminal procedure law, sentence 12 the defendant to death, to life imprisonment without parole in accord- 13 ance with subdivision five of section 70.00 of this title, or, except as 14 provided in subdivision five of section 70.00 of this title, to a term 15 of imprisonment for a class A-I felony other than a sentence of life 16 imprisonment without parole, in accordance with subdivisions one through 17 three of section 70.00 of this title. When a person is convicted of 18 murder in the second degree as defined in subdivision five of section 19 125.25 of this chapter or of the crime of aggravated murder as defined 20 in subdivision one of section 125.26 of this chapter, the court shall 21 sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without parole in accordance 22 with subdivision five of section 70.00 of this title. When a defendant 23 is convicted of the crime of terrorism as defined in section 490.25 of EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02543-01-3A. 7472 2 1 this chapter, and the specified offense the defendant committed is a 2 class A-I felony offense, or when a defendant is convicted of the crime 3 of criminal possession of a chemical weapon or biological weapon in the 4 first degree as defined in section 490.45 of this chapter, or when a 5 defendant is convicted of the crime of criminal use of a chemical weapon 6 or biological weapon in the first degree as defined in section 490.55 of 7 this chapter, the court shall sentence the defendant to life imprison- 8 ment without parole in accordance with subdivision five of section 70.00 9 of this title; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall 10 preclude or prevent a sentence of death when the defendant is also 11 convicted of murder in the first degree as defined in section 125.27 of 12 this chapter. When a defendant is convicted of aggravated murder as 13 defined in subdivision two of section 125.26 of this chapter, the court 14 shall sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without parole or to a 15 term of imprisonment for a class A-I felony other than a sentence of 16 life imprisonment without parole, in accordance with subdivisions one 17 through three of section 70.00 of this title. 18 § 2. Subdivision 5 of section 70.00 of the penal law, as amended by 19 section 40-a of part WWW of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, is amended 20 to read as follows: 21 5. Life imprisonment without parole. Notwithstanding any other 22 provision of law, a defendant sentenced to life imprisonment without 23 parole shall not be or become eligible for parole [or], conditional 24 release, commutation or pardon. For purposes of commitment and custody, 25 other than parole and conditional release, such sentence shall be deemed 26 to be an indeterminate sentence. A defendant may be sentenced to life 27 imprisonment without parole upon conviction for the crime of murder in 28 the first degree as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter and in 29 accordance with the procedures provided by law for imposing a sentence 30 for such crime, except that a defendant must be sentenced to life impri- 31 sonment without parole upon conviction for the crime of murder in the 32 first degree as defined in subparagraph (i), (ii), (ii-a), (iii) or (iv) 33 of paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section 125.27 of this chapter. 34 A defendant must be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole upon 35 conviction for the crime of murder in the second degree as defined in 36 subdivision six of section 125.25 of this chapter. A defendant who was 37 eighteen years of age or older at the time of the commission of the 38 crime must be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole upon 39 conviction for the crime of terrorism as defined in section 490.25 of 40 this chapter, where the specified offense the defendant committed is a 41 class A-I felony; the crime of criminal possession of a chemical weapon 42 or biological weapon in the first degree as defined in section 490.45 of 43 this chapter; or the crime of criminal use of a chemical weapon or 44 biological weapon in the first degree as defined in section 490.55 of 45 this chapter; provided, however, that nothing in this subdivision shall 46 preclude or prevent a sentence of death when the defendant is also 47 convicted of the crime of murder in the first degree as defined in 48 section 125.27 of this chapter. A defendant who was seventeen years of 49 age or younger at the time of the commission of the crime may be 50 sentenced, in accordance with law, to the applicable indeterminate 51 sentence with a maximum term of life imprisonment. A defendant must be 52 sentenced to life imprisonment without parole upon conviction for the 53 crime of murder in the second degree as defined in subdivision five or 54 six of section 125.25 of this chapter or for the crime of aggravated 55 murder as defined in subdivision one of section 125.26 of this chapter. 56 A defendant may be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole uponA. 7472 3 1 conviction for the crime of aggravated murder as defined in subdivision 2 two of section 125.26 of this chapter. 3 § 3. Subdivision 5 of section 125.25 of the penal law, as amended by 4 chapter 320 of the laws of 2006, is amended and a new subdivision 6 is 5 added to read as follows: 6 5. Being eighteen years old or more, while in the course of committing 7 rape in the first, second or third degree, criminal sexual act in the 8 first, second or third degree, sexual abuse in the first degree, aggra- 9 vated sexual abuse in the first, second, third or fourth degree, or 10 incest in the first, second or third degree, against a person less than 11 fourteen years old, he or she intentionally causes the death of such 12 person[.]; or 13 6. Acting either alone or with one or more other persons, he or she 14 commits or attempts to commit robbery, burglary, kidnapping, arson, rape 15 in the first degree, criminal sexual act in the first degree, sexual 16 abuse in the first degree, aggravated sexual abuse, escape in the first 17 degree, or escape in the second degree, and, in the course of and in 18 furtherance of such crime or of immediate flight therefrom, he or she, 19 or another participant, if there be any, intentionally causes the 20 death of: a police officer as defined in subdivision thirty-four of 21 section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law; a peace officer as defined 22 in paragraph a of subdivision twenty-one, subdivision twenty-three, 23 twenty-four or sixty-two (employees of the division for youth) of 24 section 2.10 of the criminal procedure law; a firefighter; emergency 25 medical technician, ambulance driver, paramedic, physician or registered 26 nurse involved in a first response team, or any other individual who, in 27 the course of official duties, performs emergency response; or an 28 employee of a state correctional institution or was an employee of a 29 local correctional facility as defined in subdivision two of section 30 forty of the correction law, when such person was engaged in the course 31 of performing their official duties. 32 § 4. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same 33 manner as a chapter of the laws of 2023 proposing an amendment to 34 section 4 of article IV of the constitution, relating to prohibiting 35 persons convicted of murder or sentenced to life without parole from 36 being eligible for commutation of sentence, takes effect.