Do you support this bill?

Senate Bill S4252

2009-2010 Legislative Session

Authorizes child witnesses to testify in criminal proceedings relating to assault, homocide, sexual assault or endangering the welfare of a child via closed-circuit tv

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Please enter your contact information

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

co-Sponsors

2009-S4252 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:
Senate Codes
Law Section:
Criminal Procedure Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §§65.00 & 65.20, CP L

2009-S4252 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Authorizes vulnerable child witnesses to testify via closed-circuit television in a criminal proceeding relating to an assault-related offense or to endangering the welfare of a child.

2009-S4252 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2009-S4252 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf 

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

                                  4252

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             April 20, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sens.  SCHNEIDERMAN,  DIAZ, PARKER -- (at request of the
  Division of Criminal Justice  Services)  --  read  twice  and  ordered
  printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes

AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to the testimony
  of certain child witnesses

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

  Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 65.00 of  the  criminal  procedure
law,  as  amended by chapter 320 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read
as follows:
  1. "Child witness" means a person fourteen years old or less who is or
will be called to testify in a criminal proceeding, other than  a  grand
jury  proceeding,  concerning  an offense defined in article ONE HUNDRED
TWENTY, ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE, one hundred thirty OR ONE HUNDRED THIR-
TY-FIVE of the penal law or  section  255.25,  255.26  [or],  255.27  OR
260.10 of such law which is the subject of such criminal proceeding.
  S  2. Subdivision 7 of section 65.20 of the criminal procedure law, as
amended by chapter 320 of the laws of 2006 and as renumbered by  chapter
548 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:
  7.  Notwithstanding  any other provision of law, the child witness who
is alleged to be vulnerable may not be  compelled  to  testify  at  such
hearing  or  to  submit to any psychological or psychiatric examination.
The failure of the child witness to testify at such hearing shall not be
a ground for denying a motion made pursuant to subdivision one  of  this
section.  Prior  statements  made  by  the child witness relating to any
allegations of conduct constituting an offense defined  in  article  ONE
HUNDRED  TWENTY,  ONE  HUNDRED  TWENTY-FIVE,  one  hundred thirty OR ONE
HUNDRED THIRTY-FIVE of the penal law [or], incest as defined in  section
255.25, 255.26 or 255.27 of such law, ENDANGERING THE WELFARE OF A CHILD
AS  DEFINED  IN  SECTION 260.10 OF THE PENAL LAW or to any allegation of
words or conduct constituting an attempt to prevent, impede or deter the

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD07814-01-9

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.