31 Aralık 2012 Pazartesi

Does the State’s Son of Sam Law allow recovery from any and all of a convicted person’s assets, including his or her NYSERS retirement allowance?

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Does the State’s Son of Sam Law allow recovery from any andall of a convicted person’s assets, including his or her NYSERS retirementallowance? New York State Off. of Victim Servs. v Raucci, 2012NY Slip Op 04440 [97 AD3d 235], Appellate Division, Third Department, Motionbefore the Court of Appeals for Leave to Appeal Granted, Slip Opinion No: 2012NY Slip Op 84607
The Court of Appeals will consider the appeal of Steven C. Raucci and his spouse, ShelleyRaucci, a nonparty-appellant from an Appellate Division ruling that held that theSon of Sam Law, which does not expressly exempt pension funds from its reach,trumps §110 of the Retirement and Social Security Law. §110 exempts the pensionfunds from garnishment or any other legal process.
Steven C. Raucci was sentenced to a lengthy prison termupon his conviction of numerous crimes related to his employment with a school district. After receiving notice from two victimsof these crimes of their intent to commence civil actions against Raucci for money damages, the New York State Office of Victim Services commenced thisproceeding on their behalf pursuant to the Son of Sam Law (see ExecutiveLaw §632-a).
Victim Services contended that Raucci’s pension checks from theNew York State and Local Employees' Retirement System are delivered to hiswife, Shelley Raucci, who holds a power of attorney that enables her to cashsuch monthly pension checks, thereby giving her control over the funds andthreatening their disbursement in a manner that would render ineffectual anycivil judgments obtained by the crime victims.
The Appellate Division noting that in 1991 the Legislature,subject to certain limitations, "expand[ed] the [Son of Sam] [L]aw to cover money and property thata convicted criminal receives from any source," concluded that thestatute, as amended, permits crime victims to commence an action “within threeyears of the discovery of any profits from a crime or funds of aconvicted person."
In the words of the Appellate Division, “Apart from[certain] exceptions, however, the amendments to the Son of Sam Law wereintended to ensure that convicted criminals are ‘held accountable to theirvictims financially, regardless of their source of wealth’" Thus,said the court, it its view both the unambiguous statutory language of the Sonof Sam Law and the legislative history of the 2001 amendments support VictimServices’ argument that Raucci's pension funds are not exempt from thestatute's reach.
The New York LawSchool Law Review haspublished an article by JessicaYager, Esq. that addresses various aspects of the Sun of Sam Law titled InvestigatingNew York’s 2001 Son Of Sam Law: Problems with the Recent Extension of TortLiability for People Convicted Of Crimes,  [Vol. 48, 2004, Pages 433-488]  Ms. Yager’s Law Review article is posted on theInternet at: http://www.nyls.edu/user_files/1/3/4/17/49/Vol48no3p433-488.pdf


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