Assembly Bill A8681

2021-2022 Legislative Session

Limits the admissibility of evidence of a defendant's creative or artistic expression against such defendant in a criminal proceeding

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status Via S7527 - On Floor Calendar


  • 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
Votes

co-Sponsors

2021-A8681 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Senate Version of this Bill:
S7527
Law Section:
Criminal Procedure Law
Laws Affected:
Add §60.77, amd §1.20, CP L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:
A127, S1738

2021-A8681 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Establishes an assumption of the inadmissibility of evidence of a defendant's creative or artistic expression against such defendant in a criminal proceeding; requires the proffering party to affirmatively prove that the evidence is admissible by clear and convincing evidence.

2021-A8681 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8681
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             January 10, 2022
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M. of A. CRUZ -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Codes
 
 AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law,  in  relation  to  rules  of
   evidence  concerning  the  admissibility  of evidence of a defendant's
   creative expression
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section  1.  The  criminal  procedure  law  is amended by adding a new
 section 60.77 to read as follows:
 § 60.77 RULES OF EVIDENCE;  ADMISSIBILITY  OF  EVIDENCE  OF  DEFENDANT'S
           CREATIVE EXPRESSION.
   1.  EVIDENCE OF A DEFENDANT'S CREATIVE OR ARTISTIC EXPRESSION, WHETHER
 ORIGINAL OR DERIVATIVE, MAY NOT BE RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE  AGAINST  SUCH
 DEFENDANT IN A CRIMINAL PROCEEDING UNLESS SUCH EVIDENCE IS DETERMINED BY
 THE  COURT TO BE RELEVANT AND ADMISSIBLE, AFTER AN OFFER OF PROOF BY THE
 PROPONENT OF SUCH EVIDENCE OUTSIDE THE HEARING  OF  THE  JURY,  OR  SUCH
 HEARING  AS THE COURT MAY REQUIRE, AND AN ON-THE-RECORD STATEMENT BY THE
 COURT OF THE FINDINGS OF FACT ESSENTIAL TO ITS DETERMINATION.
   2. IN ORDER TO OVERCOME THE PRESUMPTION OF INADMISSIBILITY OF EVIDENCE
 OF DEFENDANT'S CREATIVE EXPRESSION, THE PROFFERING PARTY  MUST  AFFIRMA-
 TIVELY PROVE BY CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE:
   (A)  LITERAL,  RATHER THAN FIGURATIVE OR FICTIONAL, MEANING AND, WHERE
 THE WORK IS DERIVATIVE, THAT THE DEFENDANT INTENDED TO ADOPT THE LITERAL
 MEANING OF THE WORK AS THE DEFENDANT'S OWN THOUGHT OR STATEMENT;
   (B) A STRONG FACTUAL NEXUS INDICATING  THAT  THE  CREATIVE  EXPRESSION
 REFERS TO THE SPECIFIC FACTS OF THE CRIME ALLEGED;
   (C) RELEVANCE TO AN ISSUE OF FACT THAT IS DISPUTED; AND
   (D)   DISTINCT  PROBATIVE  VALUE  NOT  PROVIDED  BY  OTHER  ADMISSIBLE
 EVIDENCE.
   3. WHERE THE COURT ADMITS CREATIVE EXPRESSION  AS  CRIMINAL  EVIDENCE,
 THE  COURT  HAS  A  DUTY  TO  APPLY CAREFUL REDACTIONS, PROVIDE LIMITING
 INSTRUCTIONS, AND CONSIDER THE LEAST PREJUDICIAL MEANS OF PRESENTING THE
 CREATIVE EXPRESSION TO THE FACT-FINDER.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD13206-02-1
              

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.