Long Island Senate and Assembly Members Work To Correct Bail Law Following Horrific Dismemberment Case

Senator Mario R. Mattera joined his Long Island colleagues in the Assembly and the Senate as well as Village of Babylon Mayor Mary E. Adams and Deputy Mayor Frank Seibert to introduce new legislation (S.8751).

The legislation is sponsored by Senator Anthony Palumbo (1st Senate District) and Assemblyman Mike Durso (9th Assembly District) to make body dismemberment/concealment of a human corpse a bail eligible offense.

The legislation is in response to the horrific case in Babylon, which gained national attention after body parts were discovered in a recreational park and several other locations, including a neighborhood. The suspects in the case were released under New York’s notoriously flawed bail laws after being charged with the concealment of a human corpse by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office as part of their ongoing investigations.

"New York State’s cashless bail fiasco forced the release of those charged in this heinous case and that is simply unacceptable. It is now obvious to all with common sense that we need to repeal - not reform - this pro-criminal fiasco and I implore Governor Hochul to do the right thing by putting a full repeal in her budget today. She can rectify this situation by acting immediately to ensure that our law enforcement officers are able to do their jobs and our families feel safe," said Senator Mattera.

“Nobody with an ounce of sensibility would say it’s a good idea to let someone charged with the sickening act of human dismemberment leave bail and roam the streets. Yet here in New York, that’s exactly the situation that the irresponsible Democrats who ostensibly lead this state have put us in due to their radical, nonsensical policies of putting criminals first. Democrats’ bail policies have already been amended three times because they were such an ill-conceived disaster, and here we are again. Every Democratic legislator who voted for bail reform should hang their head in shame at the notion that we have to scramble to introduce legislation to keep people in jail who are charged with a crime as horrific as body dismemberment. It is a real-life nightmare,” said Senator Palumbo, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary and Codes Committees and a former Suffolk County Prosecutor.

“To have to explain to members of the Babylon community, my constituents, that those suspected of chopping up a human being can walk free is horrifying. While I was not in office at the time, I will fight like hell to undo the so-called bail reform laws so our law enforcement officers can find and hold these monsters," said Assemblyman Durso.

"This is another prime example of why the state legislature and the Governor, MUST, reverse dangerous policies like, "Bail Reform," "Raise the Age," "Less is More," "Clean Slate," etc. and get back to giving law enforcement the tools necessary to keep our communities safe," said Senator Dean Murray (3rd Senate District).

“For how much longer will Albany Democrats turn a blind eye to the dangerous consequences of Bail Reform? They have the ability to work with Republicans to fix it once and for all, but they continue to put criminals before hardworking New Yorkers. Their lack of action shows how out of touch the radical politicians in Albany are that body dismemberment is not considered a bail-eligible crime. Moreover, the need for the National Guard to control rampant subway crime in NYC for people to feel safe only highlights the urgency for an immediate repeal of bail reform. We need to get our state on the right path. My Republican colleagues and I have been calling for this common-sense action for years. Maybe the despicable actions of body dismemberment will finally get Democrats attention that it’s time to put the safety of all New Yorkers first. Let’s do better and REPEAL BAIL REFORM NOW!” said Senator Steven Rhoads (5th Senate District).

“It has been more than four years since bail reform was thrown on the backs of all New Yorkers. Not one day goes by where innocent New Yorkers do not pay the price for this failed policy. Recently, it was announced that 38 criminals were responsible for over 1,100 crimes in New York City’s transit system. Now, we are talking about sick people dismembering bodies, being arrested and released into society. Any way you look at it, New York is not taking criminals off our streets. It is high time that Gov. Hochul and the Democrat majorities in the legislature for once put New Yorkers’ safety above progressive ideology. Repeal bail reform in this year’s budget – repeal it now!” said Senator Jack Martins (7th Senate District).

"Bail reform has failed us over and over. No amount of minor tweaks has corrected the bad policy passed by the democrat majority. Policies created without input from our law enforcement and district attorneys have left our communities in the way of harm. It’s time to correct these bad policies and make safety a priority," said Senator Alexis Weik (8th Senate District).

"Enough is enough. When our dedicated law enforcement does their job to locate and arrest individuals suspected of depraved acts such as what we saw in Babylon, we owe it to New Yorkers to empower our judges and district attorneys with laws to keep our communities safe, rather than forcing them to release those suspects back into the community. I will continue to work with my colleagues to correct the state’s disastrous criminal law policies to keep our communities safe,” said Senator Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick (9th Senate District).

"Long Islanders were shocked to learn that the suspects arrested in connection with the mutilated corpses had to be released back into the public due to New York's broken Cashless Bail system. Instead of acknowledging this glaring problem with our bail laws, Governor Hochul has shamelessly tried to place the blame on our outstanding detectives and District Attorney. It begs the question — does the Governor seriously believe that people arrested for the mutilation and disposal of murdered corpses should be released without bail? If not, she should support our commonsense legislation immediately,” said Assemblyman Jarett Gandolfo (7th Assembly District).

“How many more outrageous stories are needed, how many more crime victims need to be violated, and how many more innocent people need to be put in harm’s way before Albany Democrats fix the problems they have caused? Prosecutors and judges need their ability restored to keep dangerous individuals off our streets. While my legislation focuses on making the crime of body dismemberment/concealment of a human corpse bail eligible, it also highlights the urgent need for a systemic overhaul of the existing bail laws,” closed Senator Palumbo.

The newly proposed legislation would make the crime of body dismemberment/ concealment of a human corpse a bail eligible class E felony.