Durso, Brown E, Manktelow, Gallahan, Simpson, McDonough, Norber, Brown K, Sempolinski, Gandolfo
MLTSPNSR
Add §470.65, CP L
Provides that if a defendant dies when they have a pending appeal, such appeal shall be dismissed and the trial court's judgment shall remain in effect.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A10035
SPONSOR: DeStefano TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to the effect
the death of a defendant has on a pending appeal
PURPOSE:
To enact "Sarah's Law", named after murder victim Sarah Goode, ensuring
that the judgement of the trial court will remain in effect if a defend-
ant dies while appealing a criminal conviction.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 adds a new section 470.65 to the criminal procedure law
providing that where a defendant dies while a direct appeal of their
criminal conviction is pending, the appeal must be dismissed and the
judgement of the trial court remains in effect.
The new section 470.65 further provides that the people may apply to the
appropriate appellate division to reinstate the conviction in cases
where a conviction was previously vacated due to the death of the
defendant while an appeal was pending.
Section two provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
In 2016 a jury convicted Dante Taylor of the brutal first-degree murder
of Sarah Goode, a young single mother from Medford in Suffolk County.
Taylor appealed his conviction, but died in prison while serving his
sentence of life without parole before his appeal was resolved.
Under the legal doctrine of abatement ab initio, Taylor's death while
appealing required that his original conviction be dismissed, despite
the fact that he was already serving a life sentence and that the appel-
late division never even ruled on whether his appeal had any validity.
Therefore, according to New York State law, no one has been convicted of
the murder of Sarah Goode.
This is a gross injustice to Sarah's memory, her surviving daughter, and
other family members. Dante Taylor lost the presumption of innocence
once he was convicted. When appealing a judgement, the burden of proof
shifts to the person convicted. Dismissing the conviction, regardless of
whether the appeal has any merit, denies crime victims the justice they
rightly deserve. It is an affront to trial judges and all members of the
judicial system who sincerely strive to deliver due process.
Other states have already moved to correct this injustice. In Massachu-
setts, the murder conviction of disgraced NFL start Aaron Hernandez was
vacated and all charges against him were dismissed after he committed
suicide while appealing his conviction. This led Massachusetts in 2019
to abolish abatement ab initio and re-instate his conviction.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that the
provisions of section one of this act shall only apply to convictions
that were vacated prior to the effective date of this act.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10035
IN ASSEMBLY
January 30, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. DeSTEFANO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to the effect
the death of a defendant has on a pending appeal
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The criminal procedure law is amended by adding a new
2 section 470.65 to be read as follows:
3 § 470.65 Effect of death of defendant.
4 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, where a
5 defendant dies, irrespective of cause, while a direct appeal is pending,
6 such appeal shall be dismissed pursuant to this section, and the judg-
7 ment against such defendant as imposed by the trial court shall remain
8 in effect. In such case, when dismissing the appeal, the court shall
9 acknowledge in the court record that the defendant's presumption of
10 innocence was removed as a result of the judgment of conviction and such
11 conviction was neither affirmed nor reversed.
12 2. Where a conviction was previously vacated as a result of the death
13 of a defendant while an appeal was pending, the people may apply to the
14 applicable appellate division to reinstate the conviction and dismiss
15 the previously filed appeal pursuant to subdivision one of this section.
16 In such case, the applicable appellate division shall grant the people's
17 application and reinstate such conviction.
18 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
19 the provisions of section one of this act shall only apply to
20 convictions that were vacated prior to the effective date of this act.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14375-01-6
