S 3967: Provides immunity from prosecution for certain individuals engaged in prostitution who are victims of or witnesses to a crime and who report such crime or assist in the investigation or prosecution.
The proposed law aims to provide limited immunity from prosecution for individuals who are victims or witnesses to a crime. This immunity applies when a person reports the crime, seeks medical attention, or assists in the investigation or prosecution of the crime, without prior knowledge of the arrest or investigation. The law excludes individuals who are charged with a crime related to their involvement in the crime, but not as a victim or witness. Victims or witnesses can request a hearing to determine if they meet the conditions for immunity, which must be conducted within 15 days of filing the charges. If the court determines that the conditions for immunity were met, the charges will be dismissed; if not, the charges will remain and immunity will be denied.
| Dec. 19, 2025 | SIGNED CHAP.686 |
| Dec. 08, 2025 | DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR |
| Jun. 17, 2025 | returned to senate |
| Jun. 17, 2025 | passed assembly |
| Jun. 17, 2025 | ordered to third reading cal.123 |
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3967 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 31, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. SEPULVEDA, CLEARE, COMRIE, FERNANDEZ, HARCKHAM, HOYLMAN-SIGAL, JACKSON, KRUEGER, MAY, MURRAY, MYRIE, O'MARA, RIVERA, SALAZAR, SANDERS, WEIK -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to individuals engaged in prostitution who are victims of or witnesses to a crime The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 230.45 to 2 read as follows: 3 § 230.45 Immunity from prosecution. 4 This section applies where a person is the victim of or a witness to a 5 crime (including an individual who becomes aware that another person is 6 a victim of a crime), and has engaged or is alleged to have engaged in 7 an act prohibited under section 230.00, 230.03, or 230.40 of this arti- 8 cle at or in reasonable proximity to the time of the crime or under 9 circumstances reasonably related to the crime, and, in good faith, (a) 10 reports the crime to a criminal law enforcement agency, (b) seeks or 11 receives health care services as a result of the crime, or (c) assists 12 or attempts to assist in the investigation or prosecution of the crime. 13 No such victim or witness to the crime shall be charged or prosecuted 14 for the offense under section 230.00, 230.03, or 230.40 of this article. 15 As used in this section, "crime" shall include an act that reasonably 16 appears to be a crime, regardless of whether it results in a conviction 17 as a crime. 18 § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall 19 have become a law, and shall apply to any prosecution pending on or 20 after the time it shall take effect. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00064-01-5