Senate Bill S611B

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S611

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 allow victims of certain misdemeanor
crimes to request to make a statement at the sentencing of the defendant
and to direct the court to accept such request.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one provides the short title as "Emma's Law". Section two amends
subparagraph b of subsection 2 of section 380.50 of the criminal proce-
dure law to direct a court, upon timely request by the victim, to allow
'victims of misdemeanor crimes to make a statement at the sentencing of
the defendant where the defendant pled down from a felony charge and the
'felony offense resulted in serious physical injury to the victim..
              

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 directs courts,
upon a victim's timely request, to òpermit victims of misdemeanor crimes
to make a statement at the sentencing of the defendant where the defend-
ant pled down from a felony charge and the felony offense resulted in
serious physical injury to the victim.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2020-2022: S.8761 - Referred to Codes

2023-2024: S1901/A.3099 - Referred to Codes.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

hone
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S611A

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:

The purpose of this bill is to allow victims of certain misdemeanor
crimes to request to make a statement at the sentencing of the defendant
and to direct the court to accept such request.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill would amend subparagraph b of subsection 2 of
section 380.50 of the criminal procedure law to direct a court, upon
timely request by the victim, to allow victims of certain misdemeanor
crimes to make a statement at the sentencing of a defendant who pled
down from a felony offense under vehicle and traffic law where a pre -
sentence report is order and defendant's actions resulted in serious
              

physical injury to the victim.

Section 2: Establishes the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Under current law, only vietims of felony crimes have an absedute right,
upon timely request, to make a victim impact statement to the court at a
defendant's sentencing. This is true even fur offenses committed under
the Vehicle and Traffic Law, where a defendant driver has caused serious
physical injury to a victim and is charged with a felony offense. Sueh
defendant driver may nonetheless succeed in pleading down the charge to
a misdemeanor. Under such circumstances, the victim has no recourse and
may not provide a victim impact statement to the court.

Such a scenario, while not frequent, can occur as it did in the case of
Conan O'Rourke. Mr. O'Rourke suffered multiple injuries, including trau-
matic brain injury, a collapsed lung, a ruptured spleen, several spinal
fractures, and head and chest trauma, when defendant driver crashed into
the backend of his car. This tragedy took an unimaginable emotiona and
financial toll on the entire O'Rourke family. Due to Mr. O'Rourke's
injuries, he was unable to give a victim impart statement. Although Mr.
O'Rourke's 11-year-old daughter, Emma, sought te address the court en
his behalf, she was barred from speaking simply because defendant had
pleaded to a misdemeanor. By pleading to the misdemeanor charge of reck-
less driving, the driver that hit Mr. O'Rourke automatically foreclosed
his daughter's right to make a statement at sentencing.  Many crime
victims, whether of a felony or misdemeanor crime, feel violated, desire
justice and want to express themselves directly to the court.

This bill directs courts, upon a victim's timely request, to permit
victims of misdemeanor crimes to make a statement at the sentencing of
the defendant where defendant's actions resulted in serious physical
injury to the victim and defendant has pleaded down from a felony
offense under vehicle and traffic law.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.3099-A of 2023-24: Referred to Codes

A.1901-A of 2023-24: PASSED SENATE

A.9744 of 2022: Referred to Codes

S.8761 of 2022: Referred to Codes

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.