Makes aggravated vehicular homicide a violent felony offense

Title of bill

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to including aggravated vehicular homicide as a violent felony offense

Purpose

To include "aggravated vehicular homicide" as a violent felony offense.

Summary of provisions

Section 1 amends paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 70.02 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 320 of the laws of 2006, to include aggravated vehicular homicide as defined in section 125.14 of the penal law as a violent felony offense

Section 2 sets forth an effective date on the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become a law.

Justification

In 2012, Brittney Walsh was tragically killed by Michael Grasing who was driving under the influence of alcohol. At the time of the accident, Mr. Grasing was driving at speeds in excess of 100 mph and his BAC was an astonishingly high .32. After a 6 week trial, Mr. Grasing was convicted of aggravated vehicular homicide (a class B felony) and leaving the scene of an accident without reporting, which is more commonly referred to as a "hit and run" (a class D felony) As a class B non-violent felony, aggravated vehicular homicide carries a minimum sentence of 1 to 3 years in a prison, up to a maximum sentence of 8 1/3 years to 25 years in prison. Due to the reckless actions of Mr. Grasing, he received the maximum allowable sentence of 8 1/3 years to 25 years in prison. (He also received 2 years to 7 years for the hit and run charge.) As a nonviolent offense, however, the crime of aggravated vehicular homicide is subject to an "indeterminate" sentence, which means the defendant may be released from prison after serving only the minimum number of years imposed under their sentence. Therefore, it is likely that based on extenuating factors such as good behavior or otherwise, Mr. Grasing will be up for parole and likely released well before his maximum sentence expires.

This legislation would make aggravated vehicular homicide a class B "violent" felony offense that is subject to a "determinate" or fixed sentence of not less than 5 years, but no more than 25 years in prison. Defendants convicted of a violent felony offense are not eligible for good time served or diversionary programs and therefore end up serving a much greater percentage of their full sentences.

In honor of Brittney Walsh, it is imperative that aggravated vehicular homicide be appropriately categorized as a violent felony offense to ensure that defendants who commit crimes like Michael Grasing are kept behind bars for longer periods of time as a matter of fair justice, and to protect the general public from these despicable criminals. This legislation would accomplish that.

Legislative history

A similar provision of law was included in prior legislation that was passed by the Senate.

Fiscal implications

None EFFECTIVE DATE : On the 120th day after it shall have become a law.