* § 218. Audio-visual coverage of judicial proceedings. 1.\nAuthorization. Notwithstanding the provisions of section fifty-two of\nthe civil rights law and subject to the provisions of this section, the\nchief judge of the state or his designee may authorize an experimental\nprogram in which presiding trial judges, in their discretion, may permit\naudio-visual coverage of civil and criminal court proceedings, including\ntrials.\n 2. Definitions. For purposes of this section:\n (a) "Administrative judge" shall mean the administrative judge of each\njudicial district; the administrative judge of Nassau county or of\nSuffolk county; the administrative judge of the civil court of the city\nof New York or of the criminal court of the city of New York; or the\npresiding judge of the court of claims.\n (b) "Audio-visual coverage" shall mean the electronic broadcasting or\nother transmission to the public of radio or television signals from the\ncourtroom, the recording of sound or light in the courtroom for later\ntransmission or reproduction, or the taking of still or motion pictures\nin the courtroom by the news media.\n (c) "News media" shall mean any news reporting or news gathering\nagency and any employee or agent associated with such agency, including\ntelevision, radio, radio and television networks, news services,\nnewspapers, magazines, trade papers, in-house publications, professional\njournals or any other news reporting or news gathering agency, the\nfunction of which is to inform the public, or some segment thereof.\n (d) "Presiding trial judge" shall mean the justice or judge presiding\nover proceedings at which audio-visual coverage is authorized pursuant\nto this section.\n (e) "Covert or undercover capacity" shall mean law enforcement\nactivity involving criminal investigation by peace or police officers\nwho usually and customarily wear no uniform, badge, or other official\nidentification in public view.\n (f) "Arraignment" shall have the same meaning as such term is defined\nin subdivision nine of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law.\n (g) "Suppression hearing" shall mean a hearing on a motion made\npursuant to the provisions of section 710.20 of the criminal procedure\nlaw; a hearing on a motion to determine the admissibility of any prior\ncriminal, vicious or immoral acts of a defendant and any other hearing\nheld to determine the admissibility of evidence.\n (h) "Nonparty witness" shall mean any witness in a criminal trial\nproceeding who is not a party to such proceeding; except an expert or\nprofessional witness, a peace or police officer who acted in the course\nof his or her duties and was not acting in a covert or undercover\ncapacity in connection with the instant court proceeding, or any\ngovernment official acting in an official capacity, shall not be deemed\nto be a "nonparty witness".\n (i) "Visually obscured" shall mean that the face of a participant in a\ncriminal trial proceeding shall either not be shown or shall be rendered\nvisually unrecognizable to the viewer of such proceeding by means of\nspecial editing by the news media.\n 3. Requests for coverage of proceedings; administrative review.\n (a) Prior to the commencement of the proceedings, any news media\ninterested in providing audio-visual coverage of court proceedings shall\nfile a request with the presiding trial judge, if assigned, or if no\nassignment has been made, to the judge responsible for making such\nassignment. Requests for audio-visual coverage shall be made in writing\nand not less than seven days before the commencement of the judicial\nproceeding, and shall refer to the individual proceeding with sufficient\nidentification to assist the presiding trial judge in considering the\nrequest. Where circumstances are such that an applicant cannot\nreasonably apply seven or more days before the commencement of the\nproceeding, the presiding trial judge may shorten the time period for\nrequests.\n (b) Permission f
‹ Prev All New York sections Next ›
Lexace provides legal information, not legal advice, and no attorney–client relationship is created. Statute text is provided for general information and may not reflect the most recent amendments; verify against the official state code.