PETITIONER ENTITLED TO RENEWED STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS UNDER THE SON OF SAM LAW TO SEEK FUNDS IN THE CONVICTED MURDERER’S INMATE ACCOUNT, THE INMATE’S EARNED AND UNEARNED INCOME ARE AVAILABLE FOR RECOVERY (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department determined petitioner was entitled to the renewed statute of limitations under the Son of Sam Law to seek earned and unearned income in the account of an inmate convicted of murder in 1986:

Generally, a crime victim of a violent felony offense has 10 years from the date of the crime to bring a civil action against the individual convicted of said crime to recover money damages for any injury or loss resulting therefrom (see CPLR 213-b [2]; Executive Law § 632-a [1] [d], [e] [i] [A]; Penal Law § 70.02 [1] [a]). The Son of Sam Law, however, creates a renewed limitations period whereby a crime victim may bring an action within three years of the discovery of “funds of a convicted person” (Executive Law § 632-a [3]). Here, the subject crimes occurred in 1986 … , thus, the statute of limitations has long since passed. Contrary to respondent’s assertion, however, the applicability of the extended statute of limitations provided for in Executive Law § 632-a (3) is not tethered to the $10,000 requirement that triggers the notice provisions of the statute… . Moreover, although Executive Law § 632-a does not statutorily mandate the type of notice that was provided for here, it does not prohibit it either. Thus, having received notice of newly discovered “funds of a convicted person” … , respondent’s victims are entitled to the benefit of the extended limitations period, without regard to the amount of funds in respondent’s inmate account.

Next, to the extent that respondent argues that his earned income should be excluded from any future recovery, and, thus, excluded from the purview of the subject preliminary injunction, this Court has previously held that “[t]he distinction between earned and unearned income is relevant only to determine whether petitioner must be notified, and has no effect on the ability of a crime victim or a victim’s representative to recover such income in a civil action” … . Matter of New York State Off. of Victim Servs. v Vigo, 2018 NY Slip Op 04608, Third Dept 6-21-18

​CRIMINAL LAW (SON OF SAM LAW, PETITIONER ENTITLED TO RENEWED STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS UNDER THE SON OF SAM LAW TO SEEK FUNDS IN THE CONVICTED MURDERER’S INMATE ACCOUNT, THE INMATE’S EARNED AND UNEARNED INCOME ARE AVAILABLE FOR RECOVERY (THIRD DEPT))/SON OF SAM LAW (PETITIONER ENTITLED TO RENEWED STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS UNDER THE SON OF SAM LAW TO SEEK FUNDS IN THE CONVICTED MURDERER’S INMATE ACCOUNT, THE INMATE’S EARNED AND UNEARNED INCOME ARE AVAILABLE FOR RECOVERY (THIRD DEPT))/CIVIL PROCEDURE (SON OF SAM LAW,  PETITIONER ENTITLED TO RENEWED STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS UNDER THE SON OF SAM LAW TO SEEK FUNDS IN THE CONVICTED MURDERER’S INMATE ACCOUNT, THE INMATE’S EARNED AND UNEARNED INCOME ARE AVAILABLE FOR RECOVERY (THIRD DEPT))