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A04319 Summary:

A04319 Actions:

A04319 Floor Votes:

A04319 Memo:

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



 
BILL NUMBER: A4319
 
SPONSOR: Dinowitz

 
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:
 
S.0033 of 2019-2020(Hoylman): Died in Codes
A.3462 of 2019-2020(Lentol): Died on 3rd Reading
S.9198 of 2018(Hoylman): Died in Rules
 
 
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.

A04319 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          4319
 
                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                    February 1, 2021
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Codes
 
        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:
 
     1    Section 1. Section 340.40 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by
     2  chapter 815 of the laws of 1971 and subdivision 7 as  added  by  chapter
     3  981 of the laws of 1971, is amended to read as follows:
     4  § [340.00] 340.40 Modes of trial.
     5    1.  Except as otherwise provided in this section, a trial of an infor-
     6  mation in a local criminal court must be a single judge trial.
     7    2. In any local criminal court a defendant who has entered a  plea  of
     8  not  guilty  to  an  information  which  charges  a  misdemeanor must be
     9  accorded a jury trial,  conducted  pursuant  to  article  three  hundred
    10  sixty[,  except that in the New York city criminal court the trial of an
    11  information which charges a misdemeanor for which the authorized term of
    12  imprisonment is not more than six months must be a single judge  trial].
    13  The  defendant  may  at  any time before trial waive a jury trial in the
    14  manner prescribed in subdivision two of section 320.10 of this  chapter,
    15  and consent to a single judge trial.
    16    3. A defendant entitled to a jury trial pursuant to subdivision two of
    17  this  section,  shall  be  so  entitled even though the information also
    18  charges an offense for which he is otherwise  not  entitled  to  a  jury
    19  trial.  In such case, the defendant is not entitled both to a jury trial
    20  and a separate single judge trial and the court may not  order  separate
    21  trials.
    22    [7.] 4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in any local crim-
    23  inal  court  the  trial  of a person who is an eligible youth within the
    24  meaning of the youthful offender procedure set forth  in  article  seven
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05604-01-1
        A. 4319                             2
 
     1  hundred  twenty of this chapter and who has not prior to commencement of
     2  the trial been convicted of a crime or adjudicated a  youthful  offender
     3  must be a single judge trial.
     4    §  2.  This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
     5  the date upon which it shall have become a  law.  Effective  immediately
     6  the  addition,  amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces-
     7  sary for the implementation of  this  act  on  its  effective  date  are
     8  authorized to be made on or before such date.