Senate Bill S8761

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8761

SPONSOR: STAVISKY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to victim state-
ments at the sentencing of a defendant for a misdemeanor

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of this bill is to permit victims of misdemeanor crimes to
request to make a statement at the sentencing of the defendant and to
afford the court discretion to accept such request.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one provides the short title as "Emma's Law".

Section two amends subparagraph a of subsection 2 of section 380.50 of
the criminal procedure law to expand the definition of "victim" to
include persons identified in pre-sentence investigations; and amends
subparagraph b of subsection 2 to permit a court, upon timely request by
              

the victim, to allow the victim of a misdemeanor crime to make a state-
ment at the sentencing of the defendant.

Section three provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

This legislation is named for Emma Grace O'Rourke, the daughter of a
victim barred from speaking at the sentencing of the defendant who
severely injured her father, Conan, when defendant's vehicle struck the
backend of Mr. O'Rourke's car in February 2012. Conan O'Rourke suffered
multiple injuries from the crash, including traumatic brain injury, a
collapsed lung, a ruptured spleen, several spinal fractures, and head
and chest trauma. This tragedy took an unimaginable emotional and finan-
cial toll on the entire O'Rourke family.

Emma, who was 11 years old at the time of sentencing, wanted to address
the court to express how the tragedy affected her and her family. The
court denied Emma's request to speak at sentencing, because under
current law, only victims of felony crimes have an absolute right, upon
timely request, to make a victim impact statement. The driver that hit
Mr. O'Rourke pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving,
and in so doing, automatically foreclosed Emma's right to make a state-
ment at sentencing. Many crime victims, whether of a felony or misdemea-
nor crime, feel violated, desire justice, and want to express themselves
directly to the court prior to sentencing.  This bill confers discretion
to courts to permit victims of misdemeanor crimes, upon timely request,
to present an impact statement at the defendant's sentencing.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2017-2018: A2782 - referred to Codes; S196A - passed Senate

2015-2016: A80543 - referred to Codes; S5792B - passed Senate

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.