STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          3293
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    February 5, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by Sens. HOYLMAN, KRUEGER -- read twice and ordered printed,
          and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
        AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to restricting the nature  of
          extreme emotional disturbance as an affirmative defense to a charge of
          murder in the second degree
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of  section  125.25  of  the
     2  penal  law, as amended by chapter 791 of the laws of 1967, is amended to
     3  read as follows:
     4    (a) The defendant acted  under  the  influence  of  extreme  emotional
     5  disturbance  for which there was a reasonable explanation or excuse, the
     6  reasonableness of which is to be determined  from  the  viewpoint  of  a
     7  person  in  the  defendant's  situation  under  the circumstances as the
     8  defendant believed them to be.  A  non-violent  sexual  advance  or  the
     9  discovery  of  a person's sexual orientation or gender identity does not
    10  constitute a "reasonable explanation or excuse" as used  in  this  para-
    11  graph. Nothing contained in this paragraph shall constitute a defense to
    12  a  prosecution  for,  or  preclude  a conviction of, manslaughter in the
    13  first degree or any other crime; or
    14    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03014-01-9