S 1042: Relates to certain assault crimes wherein a person is aided or encouraged to strike the victim in the head and cause unconsciousness.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1042 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. TEDISCO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the penal law and the criminal procedure law, in relation to assault or aiding or encouraging assault The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 120.10 of the penal law, as 2 amended by chapter 791 of the laws of 1967, is amended and a new subdi- 3 vision 5 is added to read as follows: 4 4. In the course of and in furtherance of the commission or attempted 5 commission of a felony or of immediate flight therefrom, [he] such 6 person, or another participant if there be any, causes serious physical 7 injury to a person other than one of the participants[.]; or 8 5. Being fourteen years of age or more and with the intent to cause an 9 unsuspecting person to be rendered unconscious, such person strikes 10 another person on the head, or aids or encourages another participant to 11 strike such other person on the head, causing physical injury or serious 12 physical injury to the other person. 13 § 2. Section 120.07 of the penal law, as added by chapter 647 of the 14 laws of 1996, is amended to read as follows: 15 § 120.07 Gang assault in the first degree. 16 A person is guilty of gang assault in the first degree when[,]: 17 1. with intent to cause serious physical injury to another person and 18 when aided by two or more other persons actually present, [he] such 19 person causes serious physical injury to [such] the other person or to a 20 third person[.]; or 21 2. being fourteen years old or more and with the intent to cause an 22 unsuspecting person to be rendered unconscious, and when aided by or 23 encouraged by two or more other persons actually present, such person 24 strikes another person on the head, or aids or encourages another EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02769-01-5 
 S. 1042 2 1 participant to strike such other person on the head, causing physical 2 injury or serious physical injury to the other person. 3 Gang assault in the first degree is a class B felony. 4 § 3. Subdivision 4 of section 125.20 of the penal law, as added by 5 chapter 477 of the laws of 1990, is amended and a new subdivision 5 is 6 added to read as follows: 7 4. Being eighteen years old or more and with intent to cause physical 8 injury to a person less than eleven years old, the defendant recklessly 9 engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of serious physical injury 10 to such person and thereby causes the death of such person[.]; or 11 5. Being fourteen years old or more and with the intent to cause an 12 unsuspecting person to be rendered unconscious, the defendant strikes 13 another person on the head, or aids or encourages another participant to 14 strike such other person on the head, causing the death of the person. 15 § 4. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 720.10 of the criminal 16 procedure law, as amended by chapter 23 of the laws of 2024, is amended 17 to read as follows: 18 (a) the conviction to be replaced by a youthful offender finding is 19 for (i) a class A-I or class A-II felony, or (ii) an armed felony as 20 defined in subdivision forty-one of section 1.20 of this chapter, except 21 as provided in subdivision three of this section, or (iii) rape in the 22 first degree, a crime formerly defined in section 130.50 of the penal 23 law, or the crime of aggravated sexual abuse, except as provided in 24 subdivision three, or (iv) assault in the first degree as defined in 25 subdivision five of section 120.10 of the penal law, or (v) gang assault 26 in the first degree as defined in subdivision two of section 120.07 of 27 the penal law, or (vi) manslaughter in the first degree as defined in 28 subdivision five of section 125.20 of the penal law, or 29 § 5. Subdivision 18 of section 10.00 of the penal law, as amended by 30 chapter 7 of the laws of 2007 and paragraph 2 as amended by chapter 23 31 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows: 32 18. "Juvenile offender" means (1) a person thirteen years old who is 33 criminally responsible for acts constituting murder in the second degree 34 as defined in subdivisions one and two of section 125.25 of this chapter 35 or such conduct as a sexually motivated felony, where authorized pursu- 36 ant to section 130.91 of [the penal law] this chapter; and 37 (2) a person fourteen or fifteen years old who is criminally responsi- 38 ble for acts constituting the crimes defined in subdivisions one and two 39 of section 125.25 (murder in the second degree) and in subdivision three 40 of such section provided that the underlying crime for the murder charge 41 is one for which such person is criminally responsible; section 135.25 42 (kidnapping in the first degree); 150.20 (arson in the first degree); 43 subdivisions one [and], two and five of section 120.10 (assault in the 44 first degree); subdivision two of section 120.07 (gang assault in the 45 first degree); 125.20 (manslaughter in the first degree); paragraphs (a) 46 and (b) of subdivision one, paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision two, 47 and paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision three of section 130.35 (rape 48 in the first degree); former subdivisions one and two of section 130.35 49 (rape in the first degree); subdivisions one and two of the former 50 section 130.50; 130.70 (aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree); 51 140.30 (burglary in the first degree); subdivision one of section 140.25 52 (burglary in the second degree); 150.15 (arson in the second degree); 53 160.15 (robbery in the first degree); subdivision two of section 160.10 54 (robbery in the second degree) of this chapter; or section 265.03 of 55 this chapter, where such machine gun or such firearm is possessed on 56 school grounds, as that phrase is defined in subdivision fourteen of 
 S. 1042 3 1 section 220.00 of this chapter; or defined in this chapter as an attempt 2 to commit murder in the second degree or kidnapping in the first degree, 3 or such conduct as a sexually motivated felony, where authorized pursu- 4 ant to section 130.91 of this chapter. 5 § 6. Section 70.05 of the penal law is amended by adding a new subdi- 6 vision 4 to read as follows: 7 4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, where a 8 juvenile offender is convicted of assault in the first degree as defined 9 in subdivision five of section 120.10; gang assault in the first degree 10 as defined in subdivision two of section 120.07; or manslaughter in the 11 first degree as defined in subdivision five of section 125.20 of this 12 chapter, such offender shall be sentenced pursuant to section 70.02 of 13 this article; provided, that the provisions of this subdivision shall 14 only apply to juvenile offenders over thirteen years old. 15 § 7. Paragraph (f) of subdivision 1 of section 70.30 of the penal law, 16 as added by chapter 481 of the laws of 1978 and relettered by chapter 3 17 of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as follows: 18 (f) The aggregate maximum term of consecutive sentences imposed upon a 19 juvenile offender for two or more crimes, not including a class A felo- 20 ny, or assault in the first degree as defined in subdivision five of 21 section 120.10, gang assault in the first degree as defined in subdivi- 22 sion two of section 120.07, or manslaughter in the first degree as 23 defined in subdivision five of section 125.20 of this chapter, committed 24 before [he] the juvenile offender has reached the age of sixteen, shall, 25 if it exceeds ten years, be deemed to be ten years. If consecutive inde- 26 terminate sentences imposed upon a juvenile offender include a sentence 27 for the class A felony of arson in the first degree [or for the class A 28 felony of], kidnapping in the first degree, assault in the first degree 29 as defined in subdivision five of section 120.10, gang assault in the 30 first degree as defined in subdivision two of section 120.07, or 31 manslaughter in the first degree as defined in subdivision five of 32 section 125.20 of this chapter, then the aggregate maximum term of such 33 sentences shall, if it exceeds [fifteen] twenty-five years, be deemed to 34 be [fifteen] twenty-five years. Where the aggregate maximum term of two 35 or more consecutive sentences is reduced by a calculation made pursuant 36 to this paragraph, the aggregate minimum period of imprisonment, if it 37 exceeds one-half of the aggregate maximum term as so reduced, shall be 38 deemed to be one-half of the aggregate maximum term as so reduced. 39 § 8. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 of section 70.30 of the penal law, 40 as added by chapter 481 of the laws of 1978, is amended to read as 41 follows: 42 (d) The aggregate maximum term of consecutive sentences imposed upon a 43 juvenile offender for two or more crimes, not including a class A 44 felony, assault in the first degree as defined in subdivision five of 45 section 120.10; gang assault in the first degree as defined in subdivi- 46 sion two of section 120.07; or manslaughter in the first degree as 47 defined in subdivision five of section 125.20 of this chapter, committed 48 before [he] the juvenile offender has reached the age of sixteen, shall, 49 if it exceeds ten years, be deemed to be ten years. If consecutive inde- 50 terminate sentences imposed upon a juvenile offender include a sentence 51 for the class A felony of arson in the first degree [or for the class A 52 felony of], kidnapping in the first degree, assault in the first degree 53 as defined in subdivision five of section 120.10, gang assault in the 54 first degree as defined in subdivision two of section 120.07, or 55 manslaughter in the first degree as defined in subdivision five of 56 section 125.20 of this chapter, then the aggregate maximum term of such 
 S. 1042 4 1 sentences shall, if it exceeds [fifteen] twenty-five years, be deemed to 2 be [fifteen] twenty-five years. Where the aggregate maximum term of two 3 or more consecutive sentences is reduced by a calculation made pursuant 4 to this paragraph, the aggregate minimum period of imprisonment, if it 5 exceeds one-half of the aggregate maximum term as so reduced, shall be 6 deemed to be one-half of the aggregate maximum term as so reduced. 7 § 9. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amend- 8 ments to paragraph (f) of subdivision 1 of section 70.30 of the penal 9 law, made by section seven of this act shall be subject to the expira- 10 tion and reversion of such paragraph pursuant to subdivision d of 11 section 74 of chapter 3 of the laws of 1995, as amended, when upon such 12 date the provisions of section eight of this act shall take effect.