Bill Text: NY S07370 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides that the sentence for murder in the first degree shall be life imprisonment without parole.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-05-01 - referred to codes [S07370 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-S07370-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7370 IN SENATE January 10, 2018 ___________ Introduced by Sen. LITTLE -- 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 imposing a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole upon conviction of murder in the first degree; and to repeal sections 270.55 and 400.27 of the criminal procedure law relating to the procedure for determining the sentence for conviction of murder in the first degree 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 with11the provisions of section 400.27 of the criminal procedure law,] 12 sentence the defendant to [death, to] life imprisonment without parole 13 in accordance with subdivision five of section 70.00 of this title[, or14to a term of imprisonment for a class A-I felony other than a sentence15of life imprisonment without parole, in accordance with subdivisions one16through three of section 70.00 of this title]. When a person is 17 convicted of murder in the second degree as defined in subdivision five 18 of section 125.25 of this chapter or of the crime of aggravated murder 19 as defined in subdivision one of section 125.26 of this chapter, the 20 court shall sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without parole 21 in accordance with subdivision five of section 70.00 of this title. When 22 a defendant is convicted of the crime of terrorism as defined in section 23 490.25 of this chapter, and the specified offense the defendant commit- 24 ted is a class A-I felony offense, or when a defendant is convicted of EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD14129-01-8S. 7370 2 1 the crime of criminal possession of a chemical weapon or biological 2 weapon in the first degree as defined in section 490.45 of this chapter, 3 or when a defendant is convicted of the crime of criminal use of a chem- 4 ical weapon or biological weapon in the first degree as defined in 5 section 490.55 of this chapter, the court shall sentence the defendant 6 to life imprisonment without parole in accordance with subdivision five 7 of section 70.00 of this title[; provided, however, that nothing in this8section shall preclude or prevent a sentence of death when the defendant9is also convicted of murder in the first degree as defined in section10125.27 of this chapter]. When a defendant is convicted of aggravated 11 murder as defined in subdivision two of section 125.26 of this chapter, 12 the court shall sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without 13 parole or to a term of imprisonment for a class A-I felony other than a 14 sentence of life imprisonment without parole, in accordance with subdi- 15 visions one through three of section 70.00 of this title. 16 § 2. Subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 17 70.00 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 107 of the laws of 2006, 18 is amended to read as follows: 19 (i) For a class A-I felony, such minimum period shall not be less than 20 fifteen years nor more than twenty-five years; provided, however, that 21 (A) where a sentence[, other than a sentence of death or life imprison-22ment without parole,] is imposed upon a defendant convicted of murder in 23 the first degree as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter [such24minimum period shall be not less than twenty years nor more than twen-25ty-five years], the sentence shall be life without parole, and, (B) 26 where a sentence is imposed upon a defendant convicted of murder in the 27 second degree as defined in subdivision five of section 125.25 of this 28 chapter or convicted of aggravated murder as defined in section 125.26 29 of this chapter, the sentence shall be life imprisonment without parole, 30 and, (C) where a sentence is imposed upon a defendant convicted of 31 attempted murder in the first degree as defined in article one hundred 32 ten of this chapter and subparagraph (i), (ii) or (iii) of paragraph (a) 33 of subdivision one and paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section 34 125.27 of this chapter or attempted aggravated murder as defined in 35 article one hundred ten of this chapter and section 125.26 of this chap- 36 ter such minimum period shall be not less than twenty years nor more 37 than forty years. 38 § 3. Subdivision 5 of section 70.00 of the penal law, as amended by 39 chapter 482 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows: 40 5. Life imprisonment without parole. Notwithstanding any other 41 provision of law, a defendant sentenced to life imprisonment without 42 parole shall not be or become eligible for parole or conditional 43 release. For purposes of commitment and custody, other than parole and 44 conditional release, such sentence shall be deemed to be an indetermi- 45 nate sentence. A defendant [may] shall be sentenced to life imprisonment 46 without parole upon conviction for the crime of murder in the first 47 degree as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter and in accordance 48 with the procedures provided by law for imposing a sentence for such 49 crime. A defendant must be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole 50 upon conviction for the crime of terrorism as defined in section 490.25 51 of this chapter, where the specified offense the defendant committed is 52 a class A-I felony; the crime of criminal possession of a chemical weap- 53 on or biological weapon in the first degree as defined in section 490.45 54 of this chapter; or the crime of criminal use of a chemical weapon or 55 biological weapon in the first degree as defined in section 490.55 of 56 this chapter[; provided, however, that nothing in this subdivision shallS. 7370 3 1preclude or prevent a sentence of death when the defendant is also2convicted of the crime of murder in the first degree as defined in3section 125.27 of this chapter]. A defendant must be sentenced to life 4 imprisonment without parole upon conviction for the crime of murder in 5 the second degree as defined in subdivision five of section 125.25 of 6 this chapter or for the crime of aggravated murder as defined in subdi- 7 vision one of section 125.26 of this chapter. A defendant may be 8 sentenced to life imprisonment without parole upon conviction for the 9 crime of aggravated murder as defined in subdivision two of section 10 125.26 of this chapter. 11 § 4. Subdivision 5 of section 70.00 of the penal law, as amended by 12 section 40-a of part WWW of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, is amended 13 to read as follows: 14 5. Life imprisonment without parole. Notwithstanding any other 15 provision of law, a defendant sentenced to life imprisonment without 16 parole shall not be or become eligible for parole or conditional 17 release. For purposes of commitment and custody, other than parole and 18 conditional release, such sentence shall be deemed to be an indetermi- 19 nate sentence. A defendant [may] shall be sentenced to life imprisonment 20 without parole upon conviction for the crime of murder in the first 21 degree as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter and in accordance 22 with the procedures provided by law for imposing a sentence for such 23 crime. A defendant who was eighteen years of age or older at the time of 24 the commission of the crime must be sentenced to life imprisonment with- 25 out parole upon conviction for the crime of terrorism as defined in 26 section 490.25 of this chapter, where the specified offense the defend- 27 ant committed is a class A-I felony; the crime of criminal possession of 28 a chemical weapon or biological weapon in the first degree as defined in 29 section 490.45 of this chapter; or the crime of criminal use of a chemi- 30 cal weapon or biological weapon in the first degree as defined in 31 section 490.55 of this chapter[; provided, however, that nothing in this32subdivision shall preclude or prevent a sentence of death when the33defendant is also convicted of the crime of murder in the first degree34as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter]. A defendant who was 35 seventeen years of age or younger at the time of the commission of the 36 crime may be sentenced, in accordance with law, to the applicable inde- 37 terminate sentence with a maximum term of life imprisonment. A defendant 38 must be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole upon conviction 39 for the crime of murder in the second degree as defined in subdivision 40 five of section 125.25 of this chapter or for the crime of aggravated 41 murder as defined in subdivision one of section 125.26 of this chapter. 42 A defendant may be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole upon 43 conviction for the crime of aggravated murder as defined in subdivision 44 two of section 125.26 of this chapter. 45 § 5. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 2 of section 490.25 of the penal 46 law, as added by chapter 300 of the laws of 2001, is amended to read as 47 follows: 48 (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when a person is 49 convicted of a crime of terrorism pursuant to this section, and the 50 specified offense is a class A-I felony offense, the sentence upon 51 conviction of such offense shall be life imprisonment without parole[;52provided, however, that nothing herein shall preclude or prevent a53sentence of death when the specified offense is murder in the first54degree as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter].S. 7370 4 1 § 6. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 5 of section 220.10 of the criminal 2 procedure law, as amended by chapter 1 of the laws of 1995, is amended 3 to read as follows: 4 (e) A defendant may not enter a plea of guilty to the crime of murder 5 in the first degree as defined in section 125.27 of the penal law; 6 provided, however, that a defendant may enter such a plea with both the 7 permission of the court and the consent of the people when the agreed 8 upon sentence is [either] life imprisonment without parole [or a term of9imprisonment for the class A-I felony of murder in the first degree10other than a sentence of life imprisonment without parole]. 11 § 7. Subparagraph (vii) of paragraph (b) of subdivision 3 of section 12 220.30 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by chapter 1 of the 13 laws of 1995, is amended to read as follows: 14 (vii) A defendant may not enter a plea of guilty to the crime of 15 murder in the first degree as defined in section 125.27 of the penal 16 law; provided, however, that a defendant may enter such a plea with both 17 the permission of the court and the consent of the people when the 18 agreed upon sentence is [either] life imprisonment without parole [or a19term of imprisonment for the class A-I felony of murder in the first20degree other than a sentence of life imprisonment without parole]. 21 § 8. Section 270.55 of the criminal procedure law is REPEALED. 22 § 9. Section 400.27 of the criminal procedure law is REPEALED. 23 § 10. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to 24 offenses committed on or after such effective date; provided, that 25 section four of this act shall take effect on the same date and in the 26 same manner as section 40-a of part WWW of chapter 59 of the laws of 27 2017, takes effect.
