Bill Text: NY A06822 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides that the sentence for murder in the first degree shall be life imprisonment without parole.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to codes [A06822 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A06822-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6822 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY March 20, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. WOERNER -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee 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 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD05891-01-9A. 6822 2 1 a defendant is convicted of the crime of terrorism as defined in section 2 490.25 of this chapter, and the specified offense the defendant commit- 3 ted is a class A-I felony offense, or when a defendant is convicted of 4 the crime of criminal possession of a chemical weapon or biological 5 weapon in the first degree as defined in section 490.45 of this chapter, 6 or when a defendant is convicted of the crime of criminal use of a chem- 7 ical weapon or biological weapon in the first degree as defined in 8 section 490.55 of this chapter, the court shall sentence the defendant 9 to life imprisonment without parole in accordance with subdivision five 10 of section 70.00 of this title[; provided, however, that nothing in this11section shall preclude or prevent a sentence of death when the defendant12is also convicted of murder in the first degree as defined in section13125.27 of this chapter]. When a defendant is convicted of aggravated 14 murder as defined in subdivision two of section 125.26 of this chapter, 15 the court shall sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without 16 parole or to a term of imprisonment for a class A-I felony other than a 17 sentence of life imprisonment without parole, in accordance with subdi- 18 visions one through three of section 70.00 of this title. 19 § 2. Subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 20 70.00 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 107 of the laws of 2006, 21 is amended to read as follows: 22 (i) For a class A-I felony, such minimum period shall not be less than 23 fifteen years nor more than twenty-five years; provided, however, that 24 (A) where a sentence[, other than a sentence of death or life imprison-25ment without parole,] is imposed upon a defendant convicted of murder in 26 the first degree as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter [such27minimum period shall be not less than twenty years nor more than twen-28ty-five years], the sentence shall be life without parole, and, (B) 29 where a sentence is imposed upon a defendant convicted of murder in the 30 second degree as defined in subdivision five of section 125.25 of this 31 chapter or convicted of aggravated murder as defined in section 125.26 32 of this chapter, the sentence shall be life imprisonment without parole, 33 and, (C) where a sentence is imposed upon a defendant convicted of 34 attempted murder in the first degree as defined in article one hundred 35 ten of this chapter and subparagraph (i), (ii) or (iii) of paragraph (a) 36 of subdivision one and paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section 37 125.27 of this chapter or attempted aggravated murder as defined in 38 article one hundred ten of this chapter and section 125.26 of this chap- 39 ter such minimum period shall be not less than twenty years nor more 40 than forty years. 41 § 3. Subdivision 5 of section 70.00 of the penal law, as amended by 42 chapter 482 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows: 43 5. Life imprisonment without parole. Notwithstanding any other 44 provision of law, a defendant sentenced to life imprisonment without 45 parole shall not be or become eligible for parole or conditional 46 release. For purposes of commitment and custody, other than parole and 47 conditional release, such sentence shall be deemed to be an indetermi- 48 nate sentence. A defendant [may] shall be sentenced to life imprisonment 49 without parole upon conviction for the crime of murder in the first 50 degree as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter and in accordance 51 with the procedures provided by law for imposing a sentence for such 52 crime. A defendant must be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole 53 upon conviction for the crime of terrorism as defined in section 490.25 54 of this chapter, where the specified offense the defendant committed is 55 a class A-I felony; the crime of criminal possession of a chemical weap- 56 on or biological weapon in the first degree as defined in section 490.45A. 6822 3 1 of this chapter; or the crime of criminal use of a chemical weapon or 2 biological weapon in the first degree as defined in section 490.55 of 3 this chapter[; provided, however, that nothing in this subdivision shall4preclude or prevent a sentence of death when the defendant is also5convicted of the crime of murder in the first degree as defined in6section 125.27 of this chapter]. A defendant must be sentenced to life 7 imprisonment without parole upon conviction for the crime of murder in 8 the second degree as defined in subdivision five of section 125.25 of 9 this chapter or for the crime of aggravated murder as defined in subdi- 10 vision one of section 125.26 of this chapter. A defendant may be 11 sentenced to life imprisonment without parole upon conviction for the 12 crime of aggravated murder as defined in subdivision two of section 13 125.26 of this chapter. 14 § 4. Subdivision 5 of section 70.00 of the penal law, as amended by 15 section 40-a of part WWW of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, is amended 16 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] shall be sentenced to life imprisonment 23 without parole upon conviction for the crime of murder in the first 24 degree as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter and in accordance 25 with the procedures provided by law for imposing a sentence for such 26 crime. A defendant who was eighteen years of age or older at the time of 27 the commission of the crime must be sentenced to life imprisonment with- 28 out parole upon conviction for the crime of terrorism as defined in 29 section 490.25 of this chapter, where the specified offense the defend- 30 ant committed is a class A-I felony; the crime of criminal possession of 31 a chemical weapon or biological weapon in the first degree as defined in 32 section 490.45 of this chapter; or the crime of criminal use of a chemi- 33 cal weapon or biological weapon in the first degree as defined in 34 section 490.55 of this chapter[; provided, however, that nothing in this35subdivision shall preclude or prevent a sentence of death when the36defendant is also convicted of the crime of murder in the first degree37as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter]. A defendant who was 38 seventeen years of age or younger at the time of the commission of the 39 crime may be sentenced, in accordance with law, to the applicable inde- 40 terminate sentence with a maximum term of life imprisonment. A defendant 41 must be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole upon conviction 42 for the crime of murder in the second degree as defined in subdivision 43 five of section 125.25 of this chapter or for the crime of aggravated 44 murder as defined in subdivision one of section 125.26 of this chapter. 45 A defendant may be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole upon 46 conviction for the crime of aggravated murder as defined in subdivision 47 two of section 125.26 of this chapter. 48 § 5. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 2 of section 490.25 of the penal 49 law, as added by chapter 300 of the laws of 2001, is amended to read as 50 follows: 51 (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when a person is 52 convicted of a crime of terrorism pursuant to this section, and the 53 specified offense is a class A-I felony offense, the sentence upon 54 conviction of such offense shall be life imprisonment without parole[;55provided, however, that nothing herein shall preclude or prevent aA. 6822 4 1sentence of death when the specified offense is murder in the first2degree as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter]. 3 § 6. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 5 of section 220.10 of the criminal 4 procedure law, as amended by chapter 1 of the laws of 1995, is amended 5 to read as follows: 6 (e) A defendant may not enter a plea of guilty to the crime of murder 7 in the first degree as defined in section 125.27 of the penal law; 8 provided, however, that a defendant may enter such a plea with both the 9 permission of the court and the consent of the people when the agreed 10 upon sentence is [either] life imprisonment without parole [or a term of11imprisonment for the class A-I felony of murder in the first degree12other than a sentence of life imprisonment without parole]. 13 § 7. Subparagraph (vii) of paragraph (b) of subdivision 3 of section 14 220.30 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by chapter 1 of the 15 laws of 1995, is amended to read as follows: 16 (vii) A defendant may not enter a plea of guilty to the crime of 17 murder in the first degree as defined in section 125.27 of the penal 18 law; provided, however, that a defendant may enter such a plea with both 19 the permission of the court and the consent of the people when the 20 agreed upon sentence is [either] life imprisonment without parole [or a21term of imprisonment for the class A-I felony of murder in the first22degree other than a sentence of life imprisonment without parole]. 23 § 8. Section 270.55 of the criminal procedure law is REPEALED. 24 § 9. Section 400.27 of the criminal procedure law is REPEALED. 25 § 10. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to 26 offenses committed on or after such effective date; provided, that 27 section four of this act shall take effect on the same date and in the 28 same manner as section 40-a of part WWW of chapter 59 of the laws of 29 2017, takes effect.