A 6677: Enacts "Officer Randolph Holder's law"; modifies how eligibility is determined for the judicial diversion program for certain felony offenders; requires consent of the prosecutor.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6677 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY March 7, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. TANNOUSIS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to enacting the "Officer Randolph Holder's law" The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Officer 2 Randolph Holder's law". 3 § 2. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 216.00 of the criminal 4 procedure law, as added by section 4 of part AAA of chapter 56 of the 5 laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows: 6 (b) has previously been adjudicated a second felony offender pursuant 7 to section 70.06 of the penal law or a persistent felony offender pursu- 8 ant to section 70.10 of the penal law or a second violent felony offen- 9 der pursuant to section 70.04 of the penal law or a persistent violent 10 felony offender pursuant to section 70.08 of the penal law. 11 § 3. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 2 of section 216.00 of the criminal 12 procedure law, as amended by chapter 435 of the laws of 2021, is amended 13 to read as follows: 14 (d) any other information, factor, circumstance, or recommendation 15 deemed relevant by the assessing entity or specifically requested by the 16 court. This shall include any information, factor, or circumstance 17 relating to the defendant's potential for behavior that may jeopardize 18 the safety of others receiving treatment or the safety of the public. 19 § 4. Subdivision 3 of section 216.05 of the criminal procedure law, as 20 amended by chapter 435 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as 21 follows: 22 3. [(a) Upon receipt of the evaluation report either party may request 23 a hearing on the issue of whether the eligible defendant should be 24 offered alcohol or substance use treatment pursuant to this article. At 25 such a proceeding, which shall be held as soon as practicable so as to EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD09730-01-5 
 A. 6677 2 1 facilitate early intervention in the event that the defendant is found 2 to need alcohol or substance use treatment, the court may consider oral 3 and written arguments, may take testimony from witnesses offered by 4 either party, and may consider any relevant evidence including, but not 5 limited to, evidence that: 6 (i) the defendant had within the preceding ten years (excluding any 7 time during which the offender was incarcerated for any reason between 8 the time of the acts that led to the youthful offender adjudication and 9 the time of commission of the present offense) been adjudicated a youth- 10 ful offender for: (A) a violent felony offense as defined in section 11 70.02 of the penal law; or (B) any offense for which a merit time allow- 12 ance is not available pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (d) of 13 subdivision one of section eight hundred three of the correction law; 14 and 15 (ii) in the case of a felony offense defined in subdivision five of 16 section 410.91 of this chapter, or section 165.10, 165.11, 190.79 or 17 190.80 of the penal law, any statement of or submitted by the victim, as 18 defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision two of section 380.50 of this 19 chapter. 20 (b)] Upon [completion of such a proceeding] consent of the prosecutor, 21 the court shall consider and make findings of fact with respect to 22 whether: 23 [(i)] (a) the defendant is an eligible defendant as defined in subdi- 24 vision one of section 216.00 of this article; 25 [(ii)] (b) the defendant has a history of alcohol or substance use; 26 [(iii)] (c) such alcohol or substance use is a contributing factor to 27 the defendant's criminal behavior; 28 [(iv)] (d) the defendant's participation in judicial diversion could 29 effectively address such use; [and 30 (v)] (e) institutional confinement of the defendant is or may not be 31 necessary for the protection of the public; and 32 (f) entry into the diversion program poses a risk to public safety. 33 § 5. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 34 have become a law.