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A09522 Summary:

A09522 Actions:

A09522 Committee Votes:

A09522 Floor Votes:

A09522 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
 submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)



 
BILL NUMBER: A9522         REVISED MEMO 04/15/2016
 
SPONSOR: Richardson

 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in
relation to granting a defendant poor person relief on appeal
 
This is one in a series of measures being introduced at the request of
the Chief Administrative Judge upon the recommendation of his Advisory
Committee on Criminal Law and Procedure.
 
This measure would add a new section 380.55 to the Criminal Procedure
Law that would authorize a trial court to grant poor person status for
assignment of appellate counsel at the time of sentence.  The authority
to assign specific counsel will continue to reside in the appellate
court. Where the trial court declines to grant an application, the
defendant would still be permitted to make a traditional application for
poor person relief to the appellate court.
 
Under current law, the application for poor person relief must be made
to the court where the appeal is to be taken (See e.g., CPLR 1101).
There are several notable exceptions. For instance, where a sex offender
has been granted poor person status for SORA proceedings, the Correction
Law provides that the assignment of counsel continues through any appeal
(Correction Law § 168-n). Moreover, in Family Court cases. where a
respondent has assigned counsel, so long as respondent continues to be
indigent, no motion for assignment of counsel for any appeal is required
(FCA § 1118). In federal appeals, the motion for assigned counsel on
appeal is made to the trial court (Fed. R. App. Proc. Rule 24).

Our Advisory Committee believes that the trial judge is ordinarily in
the best position to know whether a defendant is eligible for poor
person status, having already ruled-on the issue in many cases for
purposes of assigning trial counsel. As a practical matter, a criminal
defendant's financial condition rarely improves between arrest and
conviction, and thus he or she is rarely able to hire appellate counsel
after being convicted and sentenced. Moreover, by entertaining the
application at the time of sentence. the trial court can eliminate need-
less delay and institutional expense caused by requiring defendant to
make a subsequent application for poor person relief in the appellate
court. Although by this measure the trial court would not be required to
hear the application for poor person relief. if a defendant is repres-
ented by assigned counsel at the time of conviction, the court would
have the discretion to entertain the application.

This measure will help streamline the delivery of indigency services in
New York. Under current rules, assigned trial counsel is not authorized
to represent a convicted defendant on appeal, except to the extent of
filing a notice of appeal. Therefore, it falls on the defendant, acting
pro se, to file the application for poor person relief with the appro-
priate appellate court, using the correct forms and following the
correct procedures. Indigent defendants usually have no legal training,
are often homeless and may have significant mental health issues. As a
result, initial applications by indigent defendants are often deficient.
After review, the appellate court must return the application to the pro
se defendant with an explanation of the deficiency. This leads to
repeated applications that are frequently rejected several times before
submission of an application that can be properly considered. The
current process therefore needlessly consumes scarce court resources and
ultimately adds significant delay to many appeals.
This measure adds a new section 380.55 to the Criminal Procedure Law and
provides the trial court with discretion to hear an application for poor
person relief at the time of sentencing a defendant. The authority is
limited to cases where defendant is already represented by assigned
counsel and the application requires assigned counsel to represent to
the court that defendant has insufficient funds to retain counsel on
appeal. If the trial court grants the application, it is required to
issue a written order that must be sent to the appropriate appellate
court. Finally, the measure provides that if the trial court denies the
application, the defendant would have the option to make a formal appli-
cation to the appropriate appellate court under current procedures.
 
This measure, which would streamline the process and save court
resources, would take effect immediately.
 
2016 Legislative History:

Senate 7246 (Senator DeFrancisco) (ref to Codes) Assembly 9522 (M. of A.
Richardson) (PASSED)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A09522 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          9522
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                     March 10, 2016
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M. of A. RICHARDSON, LENTOL -- (at request of the Office
          of Court Administration) -- read once and referred to the Committee on
          Codes
 
        AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation  to  granting  a
          defendant poor person relief on appeal
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The criminal procedure law  is  amended  by  adding  a  new
     2  section 380.55 to read as follows:
     3  § 380.55 Application for poor person relief on appeal.
     4    Where  counsel  has been assigned to represent a defendant at trial on
     5  the ground that the defendant is financially unable to  retain  counsel,
     6  the  court  may in its discretion at the time of sentencing entertain an
     7  application to grant the defendant poor person relief on appeal. As part
     8  of an application for such relief, assigned counsel must represent  that
     9  the  defendant  continues  to  be eligible for assignment of counsel and
    10  that granting the application will expedite the  appeal.  If  the  court
    11  grants  the application, it shall file a written order and shall provide
    12  a copy of the order to the appropriate appellate court. The denial of an
    13  application shall not preclude the  defendant  from  making  a  de  novo
    14  application for poor person relief to the appropriate appellate court.
    15    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
 
 
 
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13998-01-6