BILL NUMBER: S5860
SPONSOR: PARKER
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to instructions
to the jury relating to certain defenses
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill will improve the administration of justice in New York State
by requiring judges in criminal proceedings to instruct juries, if so
requested, to disregard appeals to bias and prejudice through courtroom
tactics such as "panic strategies."
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1: The legislature hereby finds and declares the following
(a-g).
Section 2: Subdivision 3 of section 300.10 of the criminal procedure
law, as amended by chapter 668 of the laws of 1984 is amended.
Section 3: This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
have become a law.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Although New York State has strengthened its laws on bias and hate
crimes, recent events have shown that some loopholes and weaknesses
still exist. Nowhere is this more apparent than in defendants' recent
efforts, in New York and other states, to attempt to escape responsibil-
ity for hate crimes through the use of "panic strategy" defenses. The
Panic defense is aimed at persuading juries that it was reasonable for a
defendant to "panic" and become violent due to some perceived negative
characteristic of the victim based on that victim's perceived or actual
minority group status. No current statute addresses the use of panic
defenses or other courtroom strategies that attempt to sway juries that
criminal acts can be justified due to the race, national origin, sexual
orientation, gender identity or gender expression, or other character-
istic of a victim. Rather than allowing a case to be decided on ques-
tions of law and fact, these sorts of defenses purposefully play on bias
and stereotypes that may be held by members of the jury.
Every person has the right to live without fear of violence or intim-
idation, and it is contrary to public policy to allow a lesser standard
of justice based on appeals to societal biases that may be possessed by
members of a jury.
This bill is modeled on similar California legislation known as the
"Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act," named after a murdered transgen-
der teenager. The defendants in that case tried to use a panic strategy
defense to justify reducing the charges. The bill was signed into law in
California as Chapter 550 of the Laws of 2006.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-22: S4798 - Referred to Codes
2019-20: S.4561/A5207 - Referred to Codes
2017-18: S.3243/A5843 - Referred to Codes
2015-16: S.1724/A.6381 - Referred to Codes
2013-14: S.2842/A.954 - Referred to Codes
2012-11: S.5738/A.881 - Referred to Codes
2009-10: A.9044 - Referred to Codes
2007-08: S.3359/A.3763 - Referred to Codes
2005-06: A.12079 - Codes
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law.

Statutes affected:
S5860: 300.10 criminal procedure law, 300.10(3) criminal procedure law