STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
S. 300 A. 21
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
SENATE - ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 9, 2013
___________
IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sen. DIAZ -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by M. of A. CRESPO -- read once and referred
to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to the crime of aggravated
murder involving certain business owners and their employees
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 and the opening paragraph of
2 subdivision 3 of section 125.26 of the penal law, paragraph (b) of
3 subdivision 2 as added and the opening paragraph of subdivision 3 as
4 amended by chapter 482 of the laws of 2009, are amended, subdivision 3
5 is renumbered subdivision 4 and a new subdivision 3 is added to read as
6 follows:
7 (b) The defendant was more than eighteen years old at the time of the
8 commission of the crime[.]; or
9 3. With intent to cause the death of the owner of a grocery store,
10 bodega, taxi cab or livery cab, or his or her employees, including driv-
11 ers, while such person is acting in the normal course of his or her
12 employment, he or she causes the death of such person.
13 In any prosecution under subdivision one [or], two or three of this
14 section, it is an affirmative defense that:
15 § 2. Subdivision 5 of section 70.00 of the penal law, as amended by
16 chapter 482 of the laws of 2009, is amended 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-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00875-01-3
S. 300 2 A. 21
1 nate sentence. A defendant may be sentenced to life imprisonment with-
2 out parole upon conviction for the crime of murder in the first degree
3 as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter and in accordance with the
4 procedures provided by law for imposing a sentence for such crime. A
5 defendant must be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole upon
6 conviction for the crime of terrorism as defined in section 490.25 of
7 this chapter, where the specified offense the defendant committed is a
8 class A-I felony; the crime of criminal possession of a chemical weapon
9 or biological weapon in the first degree as defined in section 490.45 of
10 this chapter; or the crime of criminal use of a chemical weapon or
11 biological weapon in the first degree as defined in section 490.55 of
12 this chapter; provided, however, that nothing in this subdivision shall
13 preclude or prevent a sentence of death when the defendant is also
14 convicted of the crime of murder in the first degree as defined in
15 section 125.27 of this chapter. A defendant must be sentenced to life
16 imprisonment without parole upon conviction for the crime of murder in
17 the second degree as defined in subdivision five of section 125.25 of
18 this chapter or for the crime of aggravated murder as defined in subdi-
19 vision one of section 125.26 of this chapter. A defendant may be
20 sentenced to life imprisonment without parole upon conviction for the
21 crime of aggravated murder as defined in subdivision two or three of
22 section 125.26 of this chapter.
23 § 3. Section 60.06 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 482 of the
24 laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
25 § 60.06 Authorized disposition; murder in the first degree offenders;
26 aggravated murder offenders; certain murder in the second
27 degree offenders; certain terrorism offenders; criminal
28 possession of a chemical weapon or biological weapon offen-
29 ders; criminal use of a chemical weapon or biological weapon
30 offenders.
31 When a defendant is convicted of murder in the first degree as defined
32 in section 125.27 of this chapter, the court shall, in accordance with
33 the provisions of section 400.27 of the criminal procedure law, sentence
34 the defendant to death, to life imprisonment without parole in accord-
35 ance with subdivision five of section 70.00 of this title, or to a term
36 of imprisonment for a class A-I felony other than a sentence of life
37 imprisonment without parole, in accordance with subdivisions one through
38 three of section 70.00 of this title. When a person is convicted of
39 murder in the second degree as defined in subdivision five of section
40 125.25 of this chapter or of the crime of aggravated murder as defined
41 in subdivision one of section 125.26 of this chapter, the court shall
42 sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without parole in accordance
43 with subdivision five of section 70.00 of this title. When a defendant
44 is convicted of the crime of terrorism as defined in section 490.25 of
45 this chapter, and the specified offense the defendant committed is a
46 class A-I felony offense, or when a defendant is convicted of the crime
47 of criminal possession of a chemical weapon or biological weapon in the
48 first degree as defined in section 490.45 of this chapter, or when a
49 defendant is convicted of the crime of criminal use of a chemical weapon
50 or biological weapon in the first degree as defined in section 490.55 of
51 this chapter, the court shall sentence the defendant to life imprison-
52 ment without parole in accordance with subdivision five of section 70.00
53 of this title; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall
54 preclude or prevent a sentence of death when the defendant is also
55 convicted of murder in the first degree as defined in section 125.27 of
56 this chapter. When a defendant is convicted of aggravated murder as
S. 300 3 A. 21
1 defined in subdivision two or three of section 125.26 of this chapter,
2 the court shall sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without
3 parole or to a term of imprisonment for a class A-I felony other than a
4 sentence of life imprisonment without parole, in accordance with subdi-
5 visions one through three of section 70.00 of this title.
6 § 4. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
7 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
