BILL NUMBER: S8464
SPONSOR: SALAZAR
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law and the criminal procedure law, in
relation to convictions under felony murder provisions; and to repeal
certain provisions of the penal law relating thereto
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to narrow the scope of felony murder liabil-
ity by including the intent / mental state of the accused as a factor in
charges related to felony murder consistent with homicide doctrine more
generally and drawing a distinction between those directly committing or
directly involved in a homicidal act and those indirectly involved. It
does not change the underlying felonies that may trigger felony murder
charges.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 sets forth legislative findings and intent.
Section 2 repeals the current subdivision pertaining to felony murder
(subdivision 3 of section 125.25 of NYS penal law) and replaces it with
a new subdivision which stipulates felony murder charges may apply to
individuals who directly committed a homicidal act with intent to kill
or are directly involved in the homicidal act with intent to kill. It
clarifies that accused individuals cannot be charged with felony murder
for deaths caused by third parties.
Section 3 allows victims of domestic violence to use coercion as an
affirmative defense in felony murder cases.
Section 4 sets forth a process for individuals previously convicted of
felony murder to move to vacate the judgement and/or for resentencing in
certain felony murder cases based on the changes to the felony murder
law in this legislation.
Section 5 classifies felony murder as a Class B violent felony.
Section 6 establishes both retrospective and prospective reporting
requirements for the State with regards to felony murder charges,
convictions, and sentences.
Section 7 establishes the legislation will be effective immediately.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The current provisions of New York's penal law pertaining to felony
murder eliminate the distinction between intentional and unintentional
homicide and are therefore not consistent with the principle of propor-
tionality in charging and sentencing. The current provision is out-of-
date and leads to unfair outcomes. The existing felony murder provision
allows a defendant to be charged and sentenced for murder in circum-
stances where they were committing or attempting to commit another felo-
ny but did not actually commit a homicidal act. Under current state law,
an accomplice to a crime such as a robbery, for example someone driving
a get-away car, may be charged with murder as if they had actually shot
someone in the course of the underlying crime, even in circumstances
where they were unarmed and physically removed from the site of the
murder. This must be changed.
Evidence from other states indicates that as many as one in five indi-
viduals serving prison sentences for murder have been convicted based on
felony murder doctrine. Studies have also found that prosecutors use the
threat of felony murder charges to obtain pleas deals for lengthy
sentences, demonstrating felony murder doctrine's role in extreme
sentencing and mass incarceration.
The felony murder doctrine originated in England but was banned there in
1957 and subsequently in other Commonwealth countries including Canada,
which banned it in 1990. The United States is an outlier globally in its
application of felony murder doctrine, although some states, notably
California and Colorado have introduced significant reforms with Cali-
fornia reintroducing the intention to kill as a requirement for the
application of felony murder charges. New York, however, remains one of
just thirteen states including Texas and Florida, where felony murder is
used by prosecutors to pursue murder charges when the individual commit-
ting a homicidal act is a third party such as a victim holding their
ground, a law enforcement officer, or a bystander.
Evidence from across the country reveals that felony murder laws have
disproportionately negative consequences for non-white people, young
people, and victims of domestic violence. For example, in Pennsylvania
eighty percent of those imprisoned with a felony murder conviction were
people of color, while in California sixty-eight percent of those serv-
ing time for felony murder are Black or Latinx. Since 2002, eighty-six
percent of all defendants convicted of felony murder in New York State
have been Black or Latinx. According to the California Coalition for
Women Prisoners, the majority of their members convicted of felony
murder were victims of domestic violence.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24: S 6865 (Salazar) - Referred to Codes. A 2899 (Carroll) -
Referred to Codes.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S8464: 125.25 penal law, 125.25(3) penal law, 40.00 penal law, 40.00(2) penal law, 70.02 penal law, 70.02(1) penal law