Senate Bill S4508

2009-2010 Legislative Session

Authorizes child witnesses to testify via closed-circuit television in criminal assault and endangering the welfare of a child proceedings

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes 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

Do you support this bill?

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

2009-S4508 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:
A2778
Current Committee:
Senate Codes
Law Section:
Criminal Procedure Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §§65.00 & 65.20, CP L

2009-S4508 (ACTIVE) - Summary

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

2009-S4508 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2009-S4508 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf 

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

                                  4508

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             April 24, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen. SCHNEIDERMAN -- 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  authorizing
  child  witnesses  to  testify  by  use of closed-circuit television in
  assault and endangering the welfare of a child proceedings

  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,  article  one  hundred  thirty  [of  the  penal law or], section
255.25, 255.26 [or], 255.27 OR 260.10 of [such] THE PENAL 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  OR  one hundred thirty of the penal law [or], incest as
defined in section 255.25, 255.26 or 255.27, OR ENDANGERING THE  WELFARE
OF  A  CHILD AS DEFINED IN SECTION 260.10 of such law, or to any allega-
tion of words or conduct constituting an attempt to prevent,  impede  or
deter  the child witness from cooperating in the investigation or prose-

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD03802-01-9

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.