Senator Grisanti Sponsors and Passes Amanda Lynn's Law in New York State Senate

Mark Grisanti

March 6, 2014

Courts

The bill, which was sponsored by Senator Grisanti, was previously passed in the state Senate the past two years but has yet to be approved by the state Assembly.

"I am pleased that the Senate voted to pass this legislation in honor of Amanda Lynn," said Senator Grisanti. "What is currently on the books was completely inadequate for the seriousness of the crime of improperly disposing of a human being. With the eventual passage of this legislation, anyone in the future who attempts to move or conceal a body in the attempt to hinder its discovery will have to deal with the full weight of the legal system being thrown at them."

Amanda Wienckowski's naked body was found stuffed inside a garbage tote in January 2009. The exact cause of her death has been disputed ever since, with one key issue in the ongoing investigation being the location of where her body was found. It is believed that her corpse was moved from the original crime scene.

Grisanti is passionately urging members of the Assembly to follow the Senate's lead from the previous two years and approve the bill.

"As an attorney and also as a father, I took particular interest in this legislation," said Senator Grisanti. "We all know that Amanda did not land in that dumpster by herself because somebody put her in there. When somebody does something as horrendous as that, they need to be held accountable and be punished. Tampering with evidence and altering a crime scene cannot be tolerated. The time came to act on this and I applaud my colleagues in the Senate for following my lead in attempting to make this become a law here in New York State. We now need the members of the Assembly to bring it to the floor and pass this bill so that it can be sent to the Governors desk."

The legislation would make the commission of the crime of improper disposal of a dead body a D Felony after previously being defined as a misdemeanor.

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