FROM: HOLLEY CARNRIGHT
DATE: OCTOBER 7, 2019
RE: PRESS RELEASE – BAIL “REFORM” BILL
Bail “Reform” Bill
I have received a number of inquiries regarding the bail “reform” law which will take effect January 1, 2020. The questions I have received run along these lines, . . . Is it true that in January a person charged with (such and such a crime) will be released without bail? What if the individual has a prior criminal history? Are victims’ concerns taken into account? What about the risk that the individual will commit a crime while being released pending their court appearance?
Effective in January, defendants charged with, among other things, residential burglary, almost all drug sale and possession offenses, some homicides, assaults resulting from drunk driving collisions, many weapons offenses, grand larceny, bribery involving public officials, and many charges involving child pornography, among other charges, will all be released from custody, without the court even being able to consider bail. Their release will turn only on the type of charge, without any consideration of the defendant’s previous criminal record, his previous record of making court appearances, or his likelihood of committing further crimes while out of custody.
A non-exhaustive list of charges for which a defendant must be released from custody, without bail, after January 1, 2020, includes:
· Burglary in the second degree (residential burglary)
· Burglary in the third degree
· Robbery in the second degree (aided by another person)
· Robbery in the third degree
· Manslaughter in the second degree
· Criminally negligent homicide
· Aggravated vehicular homicide
· Vehicular manslaughter in the first and second degrees
· Assault in the third degree
· Aggravated vehicular assault
· Aggravated assault upon a person less than eleven years old
· Vehicular assault in the first and second degrees
· Criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds
· Criminal possession of a firearm
· Criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree
· Criminal sale of a firearm to a minor
· Criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first and second degrees
· Criminal sale of a controlled substance in the first and second degrees
· Criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds
· Use of a child to commit a controlled substance offense
· Criminal sale of a controlled substance to a child
· Patronizing a person for prostitution in a school zone
· Promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child
· Possessing an obscene sexual performance by a child
· Promoting a sexual performance by a child
· Failure to register as a sex offender
· Bribery in the first degree
· Bribe giving for public office
· Bribe receiving in the first degree
· Unlawful imprisonment in the first degree
· Coercion in the first degree
· Arson in the third and fourth degrees
· Grand larceny in the first, second, third, and fourth degrees
· Aggravated cruelty to animals, overdriving, torturing and injuring animals
· Failure to provide proper sustenance to animals
· Animal fighting
· Criminal solicitation in the first degree
· Criminal facilitation in the first degree
· Money laundering in support of terrorism in the third and fourth degrees
· Obstructing governmental administration in the first and second degree
· Obstructing governmental administration by means of a self-defense spray device
· Promoting prison contraband in the first and second degrees
· Resisting arrest
· Hindering prosecution
· Tampering with a juror
· Tampering with physical evidence
· Aggravated harassment in the first degree
· Directing a laser at an aircraft in the first degree
· Enterprise corruption
· Money laundering in the first degree
Let me offer an illustration of the effect this bail “reform” Bill will have. In April in one of the largest drug seizure cases I have prosecuted, two men with NY City addresses were arrested in Ulster County for possession with intent to sell 20 ounces of cocaine and 14 ounces of fentanyl laced heroin. One of the individuals has two felony convictions for drug sales for which he served state prison sentences. On the first conviction he was released to parole, revoked parole, and reoffended. The second individual has two prior violent felony convictions. He also has served two state prison sentences, has been released to parole, and has violated parole. They each face substantial state prison sentences on the charges pending here and have been remanded to jail. On January 1, when the new law takes effect, they will be released without bail.