Senate Bill S4424

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S4424

SPONSOR: FERNANDEZ
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to admissibility
of victim's outcry and disclosures in cases of sexual abuse

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To allow testimony of a victim's disclosure of sexual assault, known as
an "outcry," regardless of when that disclosure was made relative to
their abuse.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the Criminal Procedure Law by adding section 60.41, to
provide for the admissibility of a victim's outcry and disclosures in
cases of sexual abuse.

Section 2 sets for the effective date.

              

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Under current law, in the vast majority of cases, evidence of how and
when a victim of sexual abuse disclosed their assault is only admissible
if the disclosure was made promptly after the alleged assault occurred.
In contrast, 48 other states allow evidence about how and when a victim
disclosed their assault to be admitted even if the disclosure was
delayed.

Victims of sexual assault and abuse, especially children, often wait
months or years to disclose their assault to others. Sexual assault
causes significant psychological trauma that can manifest differently in
every victim. Survivors may feel fear, shame, embarrassment, or
confusion, all of which may lead them to wait to disclose their assault
or never disclose it. This is compounded in cases whether the survivor
is close to the individual who assaulted them or relies on the perpetra-
tor for care. The current rule ignores the trauma victims go through by
assuming that all victims will report their assault immediately. More-
over, it assumes that victims who disclose promptly are more reliable
than those who wait longer before sharing what happened to them. There
is no evidence that a prompt outcry is more credible than a delayed
outcry.

In cases of delayed disclosure of sexual assault, prosecutors already
face challenges charging the case. By the time an individual reports
their alleged assault to the authorities, there is often little physical
evidence of the crime. As a result, being able to use the testimony of
individuals to whom the victim disclosed their assault is key to helping
juries determine whether the allegations of the victim are credible.
Despite the importance of this testimony, under current New York law,
the common rules of evidence consider such testimony as hearsay,which is
inadmissible in court. The only way outcry testimony is allowed is if
the victim disclosed their assault promptly after it occurred. In those
cases, the only information the person to whom the disclosure was made
can share is that a complaint of a sexual nature was made to them. This
denies the jury crucial information about the content of that complaint.

This legislation would amend New York's Criminal Procedure Law to
reflect the realities of trauma by allowing evidence of how and when a
victim disclosed assault, regardless of when that disclosure occurred.
New York's current outcry rule reflects an antiquated understanding of
sexual assault and undermines the pursuit of justice in sexual assault
cases.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2021-2022: S745

2020: S72471 A9103

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

TBD

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.