NY State Senate Bill 2009-S3231

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Crime Victims, Crime And Correction Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 06, 2010	referred to crime victims, crime and correction
Mar 13, 2009	referred to crime victims, crime and correction

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2009-S3231 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Crime Victims, Crime And Correction
Law Section:: Executive Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §632-a, Exec L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2011-2012: S4393
2013-2014: S1191
2015-2016: S2058

2009-S3231 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to preventing defendants from making any profit from their crimes; includes instances where defendant plead not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect.

2009-S3231 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S3231

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to a defendant
profiting from his or her crime


 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :

Section 1 of the bill amends subdivisions 1 and 2 of §632-a of the
Executive Law which prohibits a defendant who is found or takes a plea
of not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect from deriving
a profit from his or her crime.

Section 2 is the enacting provision.

 JUSTIFICATION :

In the summer of 1977, a series of murders of young women in New York
left the city paralyzed with fear and created a media frenzy. Before
the investigation was complete, news had spread that publishers were
offering to pay a huge sum of money for the rights to the killer's
story. In response, the New York legislature passed Executive Law
§632-a, popularly deemed the "Son of Sam" law.

The Son of Sam law was designed to prevent criminals from profiting
from their crimes through the commercial exploitation of their
stories. The law was intended to "ensure that monies received by the
criminal under such circumstances.....first be made available to
recompense the victims of that crime for their loss and suffering."

To achieve that goal, the law required that any entity contracting
with anyone accused or convicted of a crime supply a copy of the
contract to the Crime Victims Compensation Board and pay the board any
income earned pursuant to that contract. The money would remain in
escrow for five years, during which time a victim could bring a civil
action against his or her alleged perpetrator. If the civil action was
successful, the funds would be used to satisfy any judgment rendered.
If no actions were pending after five years, the board would then be
required to pay the escrow funds to the accused.

This law has proved so popular that more than 40 states and the
federal government now have Son of Sam laws. However, the New York
statute has one significant flaw which should be remedied. If a
notorious criminal is found, or takes a plea of, not responsible by
reason of mental   disease or defect he or she will fall outside the
reach of the statute.  This is more important than ever because famous
criminals are trading on their notoriety like never before. The
emergence of an underground trade in objects associated with crime,
especially murder is perhaps the most sickening development so far.
These objects, known as "murder memorabilia" or "murderabilia,"
include manufactured items representative of criminals or crimes, such
as murderer trading cards or figurines, and non-manufactured items
associated with the criminals or crimes themselves. Letters and
paintings by inmates are especially popular, and items like hair and
fingernail clippings from criminals also provide easy objects for
criminals to cultivate and sell. Charles Manson is probably the most
popular figure in murderabilia, followed by such infamous criminals as
John Wayne Gacy, Richard "Nightstalker" Ramirez, and cannibal Jeffrey
Dahmer. Buyers are plentiful in this macabre industry. What was once
an underground practice has entered the mainstream through the help of
Internet auction sites like eBay and Yahoo. Sites dedicated solely to
the trade and collection of such items have also developed, permitting
dealers and buyers to enter into anonymous transactions and avoid
scrutiny by an unsuspecting public.  They have also allowed inmates to
skirt prison rules prohibiting transactions outside the prison walls
by enabling agents to easily sell the paraphernalia on their behalf.
Had any of these men been prosecuted in New York and been found, or
taken a plea of, not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect
he would have fallen beyond the protection of §632-a of the Executive
Law.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2005-06: Passed Senate.
2007-08: Passed Senate.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

To be determined.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately.

2009-S3231 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  3231

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             March 13, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sens.  FLANAGAN,  BONACIC,  O. JOHNSON, LIBOUS, MORAHAN,
  SALAND, SEWARD, VOLKER, WINNER -- read twice and ordered printed,  and
  when  printed to be committed to the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime
  and Correction

AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to a defendant  profiting
  from his or her crime

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 632-a of the executive law,
as amended by chapter 62 of the laws of 2001, are  amended  to  read  as
follows:
  1. For the purposes of this section:
  (a)  "Crime" means (i) any felony defined in the laws of the state; or
(ii) an offense in any jurisdiction which includes all of the  essential
elements  of  any  felony defined in the laws of this state and: (A) the
crime victim, as defined in subparagraph (i) of paragraph  (d)  of  this
subdivision,  was a resident of this state at the time of the commission
of the offense; or (B) the act or acts constituting the offense occurred
in whole or in part in this state.
  (b) "Profits from a crime" means (i) any property obtained through  or
income  generated  from the commission of a crime of which the defendant
was convicted OR FOUND, OR THE COURT ACCEPTS A PLEA OF, NOT  RESPONSIBLE
BY  REASON OF MENTAL DISEASE OR DEFECT; (ii) any property obtained by or
income generated from the sale, conversion or exchange of proceeds of  a
crime, including any gain realized by such sale, conversion or exchange;
and  (iii) any property which the defendant obtained or income generated
as a result of having committed the crime, including any assets obtained
through the use of unique knowledge obtained during the  commission  of,
or in preparation for the commission of, a crime, as well as any proper-
ty obtained by or income generated from the sale, conversion or exchange

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD06497-01-9

S. 3231                             2

of  such  property  and  any  gain  realized by such sale, conversion or
exchange.
  (c)  "Funds  of  a  convicted  person"  means  all  funds and property
received from any source by a person convicted of a specified crime,  OR
FOUND  OR  THE  COURT  ACCEPTED  A PLEA OF, NOT RESPONSIBLE BY REASON OF
MENTAL DISEASE OR DEFECT, or by the representative  of  such  person  as
defined  in  subdivision  six  of section six hundred twenty-one of this
article excluding child support and earned income, where such person:
  (i) is an inmate serving a sentence with the department of correction-
al services or a prisoner confined at a local correctional  facility  or
federal  correctional  institute,  and includes funds that a superinten-
dent, sheriff or municipal official receives on behalf of an  inmate  or
prisoner  and  deposits in an inmate account to the credit of the inmate
pursuant to section one hundred sixteen of the correction law or  depos-
its  in  a  prisoner  account  to the credit of the prisoner pursuant to
section five hundred-c of the correction law; or
  (ii) is not an inmate or prisoner but who is  serving  a  sentence  of
probation or conditional discharge or is presently subject to an undisc-
harged  indeterminate,  determinate  or definite term of imprisonment or
period of post-release supervision or term of  supervised  release,  but
shall  include earned income earned during a period in which such person
was not in compliance with the  conditions  of  his  or  her  probation,
parole,  conditional  release, period of post-release supervision by the
division of parole or term of supervised release with the United  States
probation  office  or  United  States parole commission. For purposes of
this subparagraph, such period of non-compliance shall be  measured,  as
applicable,  from  the  earliest  date  of delinquency determined by the
board or division of parole, or from the earliest date on which a decla-
ration of delinquency is filed pursuant to section 410.30 of the  crimi-
nal procedure law and thereafter sustained, or from the earliest date of
delinquency  determined in accordance with applicable federal law, rules
or regulations, and shall continue until a final determination  sustain-
ing the violation has been made by the trial court, board or division of
parole, or appropriate federal authority; or
  (iii)  is  no longer subject to a sentence of probation or conditional
discharge or indeterminate, determinate or definite term of imprisonment
or period of post-release supervision or term of supervised release, and
where within the previous three years: the full or maximum term or peri-
od terminated or expired or such person was granted  a  discharge  by  a
board  of  parole  pursuant to applicable law, or granted a discharge or
termination from probation pursuant  to  applicable  law  or  granted  a
discharge or termination under applicable federal or state law, rules or
regulations  prior  to  the  expiration  of such full or maximum term or
period; and includes only: (A) those funds paid  to  such  person  as  a
result  of  any  interest,  right, right of action, asset, share, claim,
recovery or benefit of any  kind  that  the  person  obtained,  or  that
accrued  in  favor  of  such  person,  prior  to  the expiration of such
sentence, term or period; (B) any  recovery  or  award  collected  in  a
lawsuit  after  expiration  of such sentence where the right or cause of
action accrued prior to the expiration or service of such sentence;  and
(C) earned income earned during a period in which such person was not in
compliance  with  the conditions of his or her probation, parole, condi-
tional release, period of post-release supervision by  the  division  of
parole  or  term  of supervised release with the United States probation
office or United States parole commission. For purposes of this subpara-
graph, such period of non-compliance shall be measured,  as  applicable,

S. 3231                             3

from  the  earliest date of delinquency determined by the board or divi-
sion of parole, or from the earliest date  on  which  a  declaration  of
delinquency  is  filed pursuant to section 410.30 of the criminal proce-
dure  law  and thereafter sustained, or from the earliest date of delin-
quency determined in accordance with applicable federal  law,  rules  or
regulations,  and  shall continue until a final determination sustaining
the violation has been made by the trial court,  board  or  division  of
parole, or appropriate federal authority; OR
  (IV)  IS COMMITTED TO A SECURE FACILITY DESIGNATED BY THE COMMISSIONER
OF MENTAL HEALTH OR SUBJECT TO TREATMENT WHICH MAY  INCLUDE  CONDITIONAL
OR UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE.
  (d) "Crime victim" means (i) the victim of a crime; (ii) the represen-
tative  of  a  crime victim as defined in subdivision six of section six
hundred twenty-one of this article; (iii) a good samaritan as defined in
subdivision seven of section six hundred  twenty-one  of  this  article;
(iv)  the  crime  victims  board  or  other governmental agency that has
received an application for or provided financial assistance or  compen-
sation to the victim.
  (e) (i) "Specified crime" means:
  (A)  a violent felony offense as defined in subdivision one of section
70.02 of the penal law;
  (B) a class B felony offense defined in the penal law;
  (C) an offense for which a merit time allowance may  not  be  received
against  the  sentence  pursuant  to paragraph (d) of subdivision one of
section eight hundred three of the correction law;
  (D) an offense defined in the penal law that is titled in such law  as
a felony in the first degree;
  (E)  grand  larceny in the fourth degree as defined in subdivision six
of section 155.30 or grand larceny in the second degree  as  defined  in
section 155.40 of the penal law;
  (F)  criminal  possession  of  stolen property in the second degree as
defined in section 165.52 of the penal law; or
  (G) an offense in any jurisdiction which includes all of the essential
elements of any of the crimes specified in clauses (A)  through  (F)  of
this subparagraph and either the crime victim as defined in subparagraph
(i) of paragraph (d) of this subdivision was a resident of this state at
the  time of the commission of the offense or the act or acts constitut-
ing the crime occurred in whole or in part in this state.
  (ii) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (i) of this  para-
graph  a  "specified crime" shall not mean or include an offense defined
in any of the following articles of the penal law: articles one  hundred
fifty-eight,  one hundred seventy-eight, two hundred twenty, two hundred
twenty-one, two hundred twenty-five, and two hundred thirty.
  (f) "Earned income" means income  derived  from  one's  own  labor  or
through  active participation in a business as distinguished from income
from, for example, dividends or investments.
  2. (a) Every person, firm, corporation,  partnership,  association  or
other legal entity, or representative of such person, firm, corporation,
partnership, association or entity, which knowingly contracts for, pays,
or  agrees  to pay: (i) any profits from a crime as defined in paragraph
(b) of subdivision one of this section, to  a  person  charged  with  or
convicted  OR FOUND, OR THE COURT ACCEPTED A PLEA OF, NOT RESPONSIBLE BY
REASON OF MENTAL DISEASE OR DEFECT, of that crime, or to  the  represen-
tative  of  such  person  as  defined  in subdivision six of section six
hundred twenty-one of this article; or (ii) any  funds  of  a  convicted
person,  as defined in paragraph (c) of subdivision one of this section,

S. 3231                             4

where such conviction is for a specified crime and the  value,  combined
value  or  aggregate  value  of  the  payment  or payments of such funds
exceeds or will exceed ten thousand dollars, shall give  written  notice
to  the  crime victims board of the payment or obligation to pay as soon
as practicable after discovering that the payment  or  intended  payment
constitutes profits from a crime or funds of a convicted person.
  (b)  Notwithstanding subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of this subdi-
vision, whenever the payment or obligation to pay involves  funds  of  a
convicted  person  that  a superintendent, sheriff or municipal official
receives or will receive on behalf on an inmate serving a sentence  with
the  department of correctional services or prisoner confined at a local
correctional facility and deposits or will deposit in an inmate  account
to  the  credit  of the inmate or in a prisoner account to the credit of
the prisoner, and the value, combined value or aggregate value  of  such
funds  exceeds  or will exceed ten thousand dollars, the superintendent,
sheriff or municipal official shall also  give  written  notice  to  the
crime victims board.
  Further,  whenever the state or subdivision of the state makes payment
or has an obligation to pay funds of a convicted person, as  defined  in
subparagraph  (ii)  [or],  (iii) OR (IV) of paragraph (c) of subdivision
one of this section, and the value, combined value or aggregate value of
such funds exceeds or will exceed ten thousand  dollars,  the  state  or
subdivision  of  the  state  shall also give written notice to the crime
victims board.
  In all other instances where the payment or obligation to pay involves
funds of a convicted person, as defined in subparagraph (ii) [or], (iii)
OR (IV) of paragraph (c) of subdivision one of  this  section,  and  the
value,  combined  value or aggregate value of such funds exceeds or will
exceed ten thousand dollars, the convicted person who receives  or  will
receive  such  funds, or the representative of such person as defined in
subdivision six of section six hundred twenty-one of this article, shall
give written notice to the crime victims board.
  (c) The board, upon receipt of notice of a contract, an  agreement  to
pay  or  payment  of profits from a crime or funds of a convicted person
pursuant to paragraph (a) or (b) of this subdivision, or upon receipt of
notice of funds of a convicted person from the  superintendent,  sheriff
or  municipal  official  of the facility where the inmate or prisoner is
confined pursuant to section one hundred sixteen or  five  hundred-c  of
the  correction  law, shall notify all known crime victims of the exist-
ence of such profits or funds at their last known address.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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Senate Bill S3231

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Crime Victims, Crime And Correction Committee

co-Sponsors

2009-S3231 (ACTIVE) - Details

2009-S3231 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2009-S3231 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2009-S3231 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S3231

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Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Crime Victims, Crime And Correction Committee

co-Sponsors

2009-S3231 (ACTIVE) - Details

2009-S3231 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2009-S3231 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2009-S3231 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments