NY State Senate Bill 2017-S9198

Senate Bill S9198

2017-2018 Legislative Session

Relates to the right of a defendant who has entered a plea of not guilty to an information which charges a misdemeanor to a jury trial

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Dec 07, 2018	referred to rules

2017-S9198 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Rules
Law Section:: Criminal Procedure Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §340.40, CP L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: S33
2021-2022: S689

2017-S9198 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to the right of a defendant who has entered a plea of not guilty to an information which charges a misdemeanor to a jury trial.

2017-S9198 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S9198

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to the right of
a defendant who has entered a plea of not guilty to an information which
charges a misdemeanor to a jury trial

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends section 340.40 of the criminal procedure
law, as amended by chapter 815 of the laws of 1971, to eliminate the
provision of law denying individuals charged with B misdemeanors in New
York City Criminal Court the right to a jury trial. This section also
makes technical amendments to section 340.40.

Section 2 of the bill is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Currently, New York State grants a statutory right to a jury trial for
anyone charged with any misdemeanor outside of New York City. Section
340.40 of the criminal procedure law creates an exception for individ-
uals in New York City charged with a misdemeanor for which the author-
ized term of imprisonment is not more than six months, effectively deny-
ing anyone charged with a B misdemeanor and certain unclassified
misdemeanor crimes the right to a jury trial.

In November 2018, the New York State Court of Appeals held that a
noncitizen charged with a B misdemeanor, a crime that carried a penalty
of deportation if he were convicted, was entitled under the Sixth Amend-
ment of the United States Constitution to a jury trial, since the possi-
ble deportation rendered the offense a serious one.  (See PEOPLE v.
SUAZO, 2018 NY Slip Op 08056, Nov. 27, 2018).

The Court's decision in SUAZO highlights the geographic disparity in
jury trial rights that already exists in New York State and further
complicates the question of who is entitled to a jury trial. This legis-
lation would clarify that anyone charged with any level of misdemeanor
in New York City is entitled to a trial in front of a jury of their
peers, as they would have been if they had been charged in any other
part of New York State. Defendants would retain their option under
section 340.40 to waive their right to a jury trial in favor of a bench
trial should they so choose.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the date
upon which it shall have become a law.

2017-S9198 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9198
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             December 7, 2018
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to the right  of
   a  defendant  who  has  entered a plea of not guilty to an information
   which charges a misdemeanor to a jury trial
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Section 340.40 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by
 chapter  815  of  the laws of 1971 and subdivision 7 as added by chapter
 981 of the laws of 1971, is amended to read as follows:
 § [340.00] 340.40 Modes of trial.
   1. Except as otherwise provided in this section, a trial of an  infor-
 mation in a local criminal court must be a single judge trial.
   2.  In  any local criminal court a defendant who has entered a plea of
 not guilty to  an  information  which  charges  a  misdemeanor  must  be
 accorded  a  jury  trial,  conducted  pursuant  to article three hundred
 sixty[, except that in the New York city criminal court the trial of  an
 information which charges a misdemeanor for which the authorized term of
 imprisonment  is not more than six months must be a single judge trial].
 The defendant may at any time before trial waive a  jury  trial  in  the
 manner  prescribed in subdivision two of section 320.10 OF THIS CHAPTER,
 and consent to a single judge trial.
   3. A defendant entitled to a jury trial pursuant to subdivision two OF
 THIS SECTION, shall be so entitled  even  though  the  information  also
 charges  an  offense  for  which  he is otherwise not entitled to a jury
 trial. In such case, the defendant is not entitled both to a jury  trial
 and  a  separate single judge trial and the court may not order separate
 trials.
   [7.] 4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in any local crim-
 inal court the trial of a person who is an  eligible  youth  within  the
 meaning  of  the  youthful offender procedure set forth in article seven
 hundred twenty OF THIS CHAPTER and who has not prior to commencement  of
 the  trial  been convicted of a crime or adjudicated a youthful offender
 must be a single judge trial.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD16758-02-8

 S. 9198                             2
 
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July  next  succeeding
 the  date  upon  which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately
 the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or  regulation  neces-
 sary  for  the  implementation  of  this  act  on its effective date are
 authorized to be made on or before such date.

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