Creates new delivery of sentence commitment documents

Summary of provisions

This bill would make a technical amendment to Criminal Procedure Law 380.60 of the Criminal Procedure Law (CPL), add a new Section 380.65 to the CPL, and make conforming amendments to Section 380.70 of the CPL and Section 601 of the Correction Law (CL).

Existing law

Currently, CPL § 380.60 states that in all cases other than when a sentence of death is pronounced, a "certificate of conviction" showing the sentence pronounced by the court, or a certified copy thereof, constitutes the authority for execution of sentence and serves as the order of commitment. In addition, CPL § 380.70, which deals with sentencing minutes, provides that a certificate of conviction and any order of protection must be mailed to the institution to which the defendant is delivered within thirty days from the date sentence was imposed. CL § 601 provides that whenever an inmate is delivered to a state facility, the transporting officer must also deliver a certified copy of the sentence, a certificate of conviction and a copy of any order or temporary order of protection.

Statement in support

Criminal Procedure Law § 380.60, pertaining to the authority for the execution of sentence, currently states that a "certificate of conviction" or a certified copy thereof is the legal document that confers the authority for the execution of sentence and serves as the order of commitment. In actuality, the technical title of the document that confers authority to execute the sentence, and that is routinely delivered to the Department together with the individual sentenced to state imprisonment, is a "sentence and commitment." As such, it is appropriate that this section of law be amended to refer to the correctly titled document.

Criminal Procedure Law § 380.70 accurately sets forth that in any case where a person receives either a determinate or indeterminate sentence of imprisonment, the sentencing minutes must be transcribed

and separately sent to the institution to which the defendant has been delivered within thirty days of the pronouncement of sentence.

As part of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1995 (SRA), it was determined that the commitment document should contain greater specificity with regard to the crime for which an individual is being committed. Specifically, it was determined that the commitment should also indicate, to the extent applicable, the subdivision, paragraph and subparagraph of the penal law or other statute under which the defendant was convicted. Due to an oversight, however, when the Legislature adopted the SRA in 1995, this provision of law was mistakenly inserted into the same section of law that deals with sentencing minutes, thereby creating the mis-impression that a commitment, like sentencing minutes, is delivered to the Department separately from the convicted individual. This error was continued when the law was subsequently expanded to encompass orders of protection.

In actuality, the commitment document ("sentence and commitment") must be included within the packet of documentation delivered together with the individual being committed to state prison. See CL § 601. Currently, CPL § 390.60 expressly requires that pre-sentence reports and related information must be delivered together with the individual being committed. However, the CPL contains no comparable requirement that the sentence of commitment and any order of protection be delivered together with such individual. For clarification purposes, it is appropriate that a comparable provision of law be created to separately cover the delivery of a sentence and commitment or certificate of conviction, and any order of protection, together with the defendant. The timely receipt of an order of protection is particularly important in the case of domestic violence victims.

Lastly, for purposes of uniformity and consistency, it is appropriate that CL § 601 be amended to indicate that the official document being delivered together with a defendant is a "sentence and commitment" or certificate of conviction, or certified copy thereof.

Prior legislative history

This bill was delivered to the Legislature in 2010 and introduced as S.5517/A.7951. It did not advance beyond the Codes Committee in either House.

Budgetary implications

None.

Effective date

This bill would take effect on September 1, 2011; with provisions.