Report of the Advisory Committee on Criminal Law and Procedure

175 Pages·2017·1.32 MB·English

Report of the Advisory
Committee on Criminal
Law and Procedure
to the Chief Administrative Judge of the
Courts of the State of New York
January 2017
TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction ........................................................................................................................1

II. New Measures.....................................................................................................................2

1. Affidavit of Errors
(CPL 460.10(3)) .......................................................................................................2

2. Return of Voluntarily-Surrendered Firearms
(CPL 530.14(5)) .......................................................................................................6

3. SORA and the Sexually-Motivated Felony
(Corrections Law § 168-a (2) ...................................................................................8

4. Waiver of Pre-Sentence Report for Sentences of Conditional Discharge
(CPL 390.20)..........................................................................................................10

5. Deferral of Mandatory Surcharge
(CPL 420.40)..........................................................................................................11

6. Definite Sentences for Certain First Time Nonviolent Felony Offenders
(PL § 70.00(4)).......................................................................................................15

7. Sex Trafficking and the Rape Shield Law
(CPL 60.42)............................................................................................................17

III. Previously Endorsed Measures .......................................................................................19

1. Removal of Qualifying Cases to Veterans Courts
(CPL 170.15(4); 180.20(3)) ..................................................................................19

2. Authority to Suspend Jury Deliberations for More than Twenty-four Hours
(CPL 310.10(2)) .....................................................................................................22

3. Providing Written Instructions to Jurors upon Request
(CPL 310.30)..........................................................................................................24

4. Access to Foreign State Records
(PL § 400.00 (1)) ...................................................................................................26

5. Residency Restrictions for Certain Sex Offenders
(PL § 65.10(4-a)(a); Executive Law § 259-c (14)) ................................................29

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6. Release of Pre-Sentence Investigation Reports for Post Judgment Motions
(CPL 390.50(2)) .....................................................................................................35

7. Juvenile Offenders Apparently Eligible for Youthful Offender Treatment
(CPL 720.15(3)) .....................................................................................................38

8. Trial Order of Dismissal: Repealer
(CPL 290.10(2) and (3), 450.40(1) and (2)) ..........................................................40

9. Reduction of Peremptory Challenges
(CPL 270.25)..........................................................................................................43

10. Drug Law Reform Act of 2009
(CPL 216.00; 168.58(1)) ........................................................................................45

IV. Summaries of Temporarily Tabled Previously Endorsed Measures ..........................49

1. Discovery
(CPL Article 240) ..................................................................................................49

2. Oral Pre-Trial Motions
(CPL 200.95, 210.43, 210.45, 225.20, 710.60)......................................................78

3. Identification by Means of Previous Recognition
(CPL 60.27)............................................................................................................79

4. Amendment of Indictment on Retrial
(CPL 280.20, 310.60, 330.50, 470.55)...................................................................80

5. Admissibility of Evidence of Person's Prior Violent Conduct
(CPL 60.41)............................................................................................................81

6. Speedy Trial Reform
(CPL 30.30)............................................................................................................82

7. Further Speedy Trial Reform
(CPL 30.30)............................................................................................................85

8. Prosecutor's Motion to Vacate Judgment
(CPL 440.10)..........................................................................................................87

9. Selection of Trial Jurors
(CPL Articles 270 and 360) ...................................................................................88

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10. Motion to Dismiss Indictment for Failure
to Afford Defendant the Right to Testify
Before Grand Jury (CPL 210.20) ...........................................................................89

11. Discovery of Search Warrant Documents
and Seized Property (CPL 240.20) ........................................................................91

12. Anonymous Jury
(CPL 270.15)..........................................................................................................92

13. Revision of the Contempt Law
(Judiciary Law Article 19) .....................................................................................96

14. Compensation of Experts
(Judiciary Law § 34-a) .........................................................................................102

15. Issuance and Duration of Final Orders of Protection
(CPL 530.12(5), 530.13(4)) .................................................................................103

16. Permitting All Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
Claims to be Raised on Collateral Review
(CPL 440.10(2)) ...................................................................................................105

17. Raising the Monetary Threshold for Felony-Level Criminal Mischief and
Securities Fraud
(Penal Law §§ 145.05(2), 145.10; GBL 352-c(6)) ..............................................107

18. Written Grand Jury Instructions
(CPL 190.25(6)) ...................................................................................................110

19. Criminal Contempt and Double Jeopardy: Repealer
(Penal Law § 215.54; Judiciary Law §776) .........................................................112

20. Prosecution by Superior Court Information
After Dismissal of Indictment
(CPL 195.10 (1)(a); CPL 210.20(4)) ...................................................................115

21. Disclosure by the People of Police-Arranged
Identifications of Defendant
(CPL 240.20(e)(1)) .............................................................................................116

22. Geographical Jurisdiction of Counties
(CPL Article 20.40(2)) .........................................................................................117

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23. Allegations of Previous Convictions Involving Certain Traffic Infractions
(CPL 200.60) .......................................................................................................118

24. Dismissal of Outstanding Traffic Infractions
(CPL 30.30)..........................................................................................................119

25. Authorizing a 30-Day “Hardship Privilege” to Qualified Defendants
(VTL §1193(2)(e)(7)(e) ......................................................................................120

26. Clarifying the Dissemination Rules under the Sex Offender Registration Act
(Correction Law §168-l (6)(a)) ............................................................................121

27. Authority to Unseal Records in the Interest of Justice
(CPL 160.50; CPL 160.55) ..................................................................................122

28. Amending the Drug Law Reform Act [DLRA]
(Penal Law §70.30(1)(e)) .....................................................................................123

29. Codifying the Writ of Coram Nobis
(CPL 450.65)........................................................................................................124

30. Amending the E-Stop Law
(Penal Law §65.10; Corrections Law §168-e ) ....................................................125

31. Examination Orders for Misdemeanor Cases
(CPL 170.10, 530.20, 530.40)..............................................................................126

32. Jury Trial on Cases Consolidated for Trial
(CPL 340.40)........................................................................................................127

33. Revising the Powers of Judicial Hearing Officers
(CPL 120.10, 380.10, 380.20)..............................................................................128

34. Amending the Sex Offender Registration Act for Out-of-State Offenders
(Corrections Law §168-a) ....................................................................................129

35. Amending the “Safe Schools Against Violence in Education Act”
(CPL 380.90, 720.35(3)) ......................................................................................130

36. Orders of Protection in Youthful Offender Cases
(CPL 720.35(2)) ...................................................................................................131

37. Codifying the agency defense for drug offenses
(Penal Law §40.20) ..............................................................................................132

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38. Revocable Sentences under The Child Passenger
Protection Act (Leandra’s Law)
(Penal Law §60.01) ..............................................................................................134

39. Unsealing Orders of Protection in Certain Contempt Prosecutions
(CPL 160.50)........................................................................................................135

40. Defining “Personal Injury” in the Crime of Leaving the
Scene of an Incident Without Reporting
(VTL § 600(2)(a)) ................................................................................................136

41. Amending the Definition of “Counterfeit Trademark”
(Penal Law § 165.70) ...........................................................................................137

42. GPS Warrants
(CPL 690.05; 690.60) ..........................................................................................138

43. Affirmative Defense to Criminal Possession of a Gravity Knife
(Penal Law § 265.15(7)) ......................................................................................139

44. DNA Collection Where Previous Sample is in Index
(Executive Law 995-c(3)) ...................................................................................140

45. Appellate Review of Questions Not Decided Adversely to Appellant
(CPL 470.15)........................................................................................................141

46. Risk-Level Recommendations under the Sex Offender Registration Act
(Corrections Law §§ 168-d(2),(3); 168-l(6); 168-n(1),(2)) ................................142

47. Criteria for Determining Prior Felony Offender Status
(Penal Law §§ 70.04(1)(b)(ii); 70.06(1)(b)(ii); 70.10(1)(b)(ii)) ..........................143

48. Providing the Court’s Charge to Deliberating Jury
(CPL 310.30) .......................................................................................................144

49. Sua Sponte Motions for Severance
(CPL 200.40) .......................................................................................................147

50. Appeals of Orders Modifying Probation Conditions
(CPL 450.30(3)) ...................................................................................................148

51. Availability of a Pre-sentence Report
(CPL 390.50(2)(a)) ..............................................................................................149

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52. Subpoena Duces Tecum Procedure
(CPL 610.40)........................................................................................................151

53. Setting Bail in a City, Town and Village Court
(CPL 530.20(2)(a)) ..............................................................................................153

54. Oral Search Warrant Applications
(CPL 690.36)........................................................................................................155

55. Codifying People ex rel. McManus v. Horn
(CPL 520.10(2)) ...................................................................................................156

56. Adjournments in Contemplation of Dismissal
(CPL 170.55)........................................................................................................157

57. Counsel’s Attendance at Pre-sentence Interviews
(CPL 390.30)........................................................................................................158

58. Mental Disease or Defect Excluding Fitness to Proceed pro se
(CPL Article 731) ................................................................................................160

59. Termination of an Action in Favor of an Accused
(CPL 160.60; 160.55(4)) .....................................................................................163

60. Imposition of Certain Fines under the Vehicle and Traffic Law
((VTL § 1193(1)(e)) .............................................................................................164

61. Defendants Confined for Examinations to Determine Capacity
(CPL 730.30(1-a)) ................................................................................................166

V. Conclusion ................................................................................................................168

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I. Introduction

The Advisory Committee on Criminal Law and Procedure, one of the standing advisory
committees established by the Chief Administrator of the Courts pursuant to section 212(1)(q) of
the Judiciary Law, annually recommends to the Chief Administrative Judge legislative proposals
in the area of criminal law and procedure that may be incorporated in the Judiciary’s legislative
program. The Committee makes its recommendations on the basis of its own studies,
examination of decisional law and proposals received from the bench and bar. The Committee
maintains a liaison with the New York State Judicial Conference, bar associations and legislative
committees, and other state agencies. In addition to recommending its own annual legislative
program, the Committee reviews and comments on other pending legislative measures concerning
criminal law and procedure.

In this 2017 Report, the Committee recommends seven new measures for enactment by
the Legislature. Also included are several measures previously submitted during the 2016
legislative session. Finally, the Committee provides summaries of 61 previously endorsed
proposals which were not passed by one or both houses of the Legislature, but which continue to
be supported by the Committee. The new measures would:

 provide the parties time to have electronically recorded proceedings
transcribed before being required to file an affidavit of errors.
 provide statutory authorization to return a firearm voluntarily surrendered by
its owner;
 amend the Correction Law to clarify that the definition of a “sex offense”
under the Sex Offender Registration Act includes all sexually motivated
felonies;
 amend the Criminal Procedure Law to authorize a waiver of a presentence
report for agreed upon sentences of conditional discharge;
 amend the Criminal Procedure Law to authorize an application at the time of
sentencing for deferral of court surcharges;
 authorize a court to impose a definite jail term for certain class C nonviolent
felonies; and
 amend the Criminal Procedure Law to include the crime of sex trafficking under
New York’s rape shield law.
Part II of this Report provides the details of and explains the purpose of each new
measure. Part III summarizes previously endorsed measures of significant interest to the courts.
In Parts II and III, individual summaries are followed by drafts of proposed legislation. Part IV
summarizes temporarily tabled measures that had been previously endorsed by the Committee.
Complete legislative proposals for these measures are available on request to the Committee.

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II. New Measures

1. Affidavit of Errors
(CPL 460.10(3))
In order to facilitate appeals from local criminal courts where proceedings are recorded by
electronic means instead of by a stenographer, the Committee recommends amending the Criminal
Procedure Law to allow the parties time to secure a transcript of an electronically recorded
proceeding before filing an affidavit of errors.
An appeal taken from a court where the underlying proceedings were not recorded by a
court stenographer must be made by filing an “affidavit of errors” with the local criminal court
within 30 days after entry or imposition of the judgment (CPL 460.10(3)(a)). The “affidavit of
errors’’ is a statement by defendant’s appellate counsel outlining the alleged trial
errors which justify the relief sought on appeal. Thereafter, the local criminal court must file
with the appropriate appellate court both the affidavit of errors and the court’s return (CPL
410.60(3)(d)). Because there is no stenographic record of the proceedings, this procedure
ensures that appellate court will have an adequate basis to review the lower court proceedings.
The current statute requires that the “court’s return must set forth or summarize evidence, facts
or occurrences in or adduced at the proceedings resulting in the judgment, sentence or order,
which constitute the factual foundation for the contentions alleged in the affidavit of errors” (id.)
However, this statutory procedure became somewhat outmoded when the Unified Court
System, as part of its Action Plan for Justice Courts, installed electronic recording devices in
every court in the state not designated a court of record. Effective June 16, 2008, these courts
were required to mechanically record all proceedings. As a result, there is now a
contemporaneous record that can be transcribed and submitted to the appellate court. For years,
many considered these recordings the functional equivalent of stenographic notes and, for
purposes of appeal, used them in the same manner as transcribed stenographic notes. This
position served two purposes: 1) it ended the need for an affidavit of errors because there was a
record from which to appeal; and, 2) it reduced the cost to localities by allowing indigent
defendants to get transcribed minutes of the electronic recording “as a state charge paid out of
funds appropriated to the office of court administration for that purpose” (see CPL 460.70(1)).
However, the Court of Appeals recently held that a transcript from an electronic
recording may not be considered the functional equivalent of transcribed stenographic notes, and
that an appeal from proceedings where no stenographer is present must still be taken by filing an
affidavit of errors with the trial court (People v Smith, 27 N.Y.3d 643 (2016)). The Court held
that CPL 460.10 “is free from ambiguity” and an appeal with a transcribed recording instead of
by an affidavit of errors is a jurisdictional defect requiring dismissal of the appeal (27 N.Y.3d
643 at 649). The ruling has resulted in significant difficulty for appellate practitioners because in
most cases, the deadline for filing the affidavit of errors will likely require it to be submitted
before the appealing party can secure a transcribed copy of the electronic recording, thus making
it difficult for any attorney to file an appeal who was not present at the underlying proceedings.
In the wake of the Smith decision, there have been calls for a wholesale reform of the
procedure involving an affidavit of errors. The Committee, however, has concluded that rather

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than reform the entire statute, a more modest remedy would be sufficient. This measure allows
an appealing party time to have the electronic proceedings transcribed before notice of appeal
must be filed. By adding additional time to file a notice of appeal, the burden on the court and
parties will be significantly reduced. Where an electronic recording of the proceeding is fully
audible and an adequate transcript can be made, the affidavit of errors can be readily prepared by
simply attaching the transcript as an exhibit. The trial court’s return will be equally easy to
prepare because the Court of Appeals has already held that a “court’s return ‘can be satisfied by
the transcript of an electronic recording of’ the underlying proceeding, where there is no
argument that the affidavit of errors contained issues that could not be resolved by reference to
the transcript or that the transcript is in any way incomplete or inaccurate” (People v Smith, 27
N.Y.3d 643 (2016), quoting People v Robinson, 72 N.Y.2d 989, 990 (1988)).
In cases where the transcript either is materially incomplete or inaccurate, counsel will be
required to file an affidavit of errors under current procedures. This is necessary to enable the
court to file a return to assure that the appeals court has “evidence, facts or occurrences”
sufficient to constitute a factual foundation for the appeal. The Committee believes that even
where the transcribed minutes are incomplete or inaudible in significant areas, the underlying
court and counsel may well be able to use the audible portion of the transcribed minutes as an aid
in preparing the affidavit of errors or the court’s return.
This measure also amends 460.70 in order to provide a state-based funding mechanism
for indigent defendant’s counsel to procure a transcribed copy of the electronic recording. This
will conform the law to the current practice.
The measure would take effect sixty days after enactment to allow time to formalize
necessary court rules and procedures.
Proposal
AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to procedures for taking an appeal
from a court that is not designated a court of record

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as
follows:
Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 460.10 of the criminal procedure
law, as added by chapter 671 of the laws of 1971, is amended to read as follows:
(a) Within thirty days after entry or imposition in such local criminal court of the
judgment, sentence or order being appealed, the appellant must file with such court either (i) an
affidavit of errors, setting forth alleged errors or defects in the proceedings which are the subjects
of the appeal, or (ii) a notice of appeal. Where a notice of appeal is filed, the appellant must serve

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