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Who cares
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Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to codes
- Referred to codes
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to criminal mischief in certain cases
Purpose or general idea of bill
Expands the scope of the crime of criminal mischief to include cases wherein a person intentionally damages property of another with the intent to harass, annoy, or alarm, in order to address cases of domestic violence that include property damage.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 of the bill amends the Penal Law sections 145.00; 145.05, and 145.10, to add an element to each count of criminal mischief to cover a situation where a person, with intent to harass, annoy, or alarm another person, intentionally damages property in which the other person has a possessory or proprietary interest, which property may include marital property. Section 2 of the bill amends the Criminal Procedure Law to add criminal mischief to the list of family offenses. Section 3 of the bill amends the Family Court Act to add criminal mischief to the list of family offenses.
Read the full memo (642 words)
Justification
This law corrects the holding in PEOPLE v. PERSON 658 N.Y.S.2d .372 (2nd Dep't 1997) that a husband can not be charged with criminal mischief when he destroys the personal property of his estranged wife because the property was marital property in which the husband had a proprietary interest. In that case, Mr. Person forcibly entered Ms. Person's dwelling, assaulted her, and destroyed her clothing, toiletries, the contents of her handbag, and various items of household furnishings. Although convicted of criminal mischief in the fourth degree at the trial level, the Appellate Division reversed, holding that "because the defendant had an equitable interest in the items he was charged with damaging or stealing... he could not be charged with these crimes." The PERSON case misapplies the Domestic Relations Law, which defines marital property for purposes of equitable distribution, to a domestic violence crime under the Penal Law. As the New York State Commission on Domestic Violence Fatalities stated in its 1997 report to the Governor: "The court in PERSON appears to have equated marital property for purposes of distribution between the parties Upon divorce, with household property in which a spouse has at least a proprietary interest. The explanatory comment published with the Criminal Mischief sections of the Penal Law states: 'Property is that of another person...if anyone, other than the defendant, has a possessory or proprietary interest in such tangible property. The Commission recommended legislation to clarify that the criminal mischief sections of the Penal Law do apply when a person destroys marital or jointly owned property, committing a form of domestic violence. Aggressors in domestic disputes often commit domestic violence by destroying or damaging property of their victim with the intent to harass, annoy, or alarm. This type of behavior is a form of domestic violence which the PERSON case in effect sanctions. The case directly contradicts the strong public policy in this State of protecting the victims of domestic violence. The bill implements this policy by amending each count of criminal mischief to include sanctions where a person has a possessory or proprietary interest with the intent to annoy, harass or alarm that other person. Lastly, the bill includes the crime of criminal mischief in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th degree in the list of crimes that can constitute a family offense under the Criminal Procedure Law and the Family Court Act so that victims of this form of domestic violence have the option of going to Family Court for an order of protection when a person commits domes- tic violence by destroying property.
Prior legislative history
S.7612 of 2008 04/17/08 Referred to Codes
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the date on which it shall have become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.