BILL NUMBER: S376

SPONSOR: ADDABBO
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to establishing the felony
offense of aggravated assault

 
PURPOSE:

Enacts "Idelfonso Romero's law" to establish the new felony offense of
aggravated assault.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Provides that the law shall be called "Idelfonso Romero's
law"

Section 2: Adds a new section 120.00-a to the penal law creating the new
class E felony of aggravated assault to apply when a person commits the
current A misdemeanor offense of assault in the third degree and the
              

result is a serious physical injury or death of another person.

Section 3: Effective date

 
JUSTIFICATION:

This legislation is named in memory of Idelfonso Romero, a 59-year-old
man who was killed in June 2014 by a single punch to the head while
trying to break up a fight outside his Bronx home. Despite the fact the
Mr. Romero's killer committed an intentional assault that resulted in
his death, he was only charged with the misdemeanor offense of third
degree assault because the crime was committed without the use of a
deadly weapon or dangerous instrument and there was insufficient
evidence of an intent to cause serious physical injury or death. Under
current law, a death caused by recklessness or criminally negligent
conduct is punished far more severely, as the class C felony of second
degree manslaughter or the class E felony of criminally negligent homi-
cide respectively, than a death caused by an intentional violent act
intended to cause physical harm.

The increasing trend of one-punch attacks designed to knock out their
victims with a single blow to the head shows no sign of slowing down, as
evidenced by police reports and the widespread availability of video
tutorials on the internet. This bill would increase the penalties for
these vicious and intentional attacks from an A misdemeanor to an E
felony if a death or serious injury occurs as a result.

This heightened penalty reflects our growing understanding of the
dangers of head trauma and the damage that can be inflicted with a
single punch, and will finally treat these crimes as the life threaten-
ing acts they truly are.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2020: S. 7713 - Referred to Senate Codes.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

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