BAIL MAY BE IMPOSED ON A DEFENDANT WHO IS CHARGED WITH COMMITTING NEW OFFENSES WHILE OUT ON BAIL, EVEN IF THE NEW OFFENSES WOULD NOT OTHERWISE QUALIFY FOR THE IMPOSITION OF BAIL (CT APP).
The Court of Appeals, reversing the Appellate Division, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Garcia, over a two-judge concurrence, determined a defendant who commits new offenses when out on bail is subject to the imposition of bail for the new offenses, even when the new offenses would not otherwise have qualified for the imposition of bail:
CPL 510.10 (4) (t) provides a judge with discretion to set bail on certain otherwise non-qualifying offenses committed after a defendant has been “released under conditions” on a prior charge. The issue raised on this appeal is whether a defendant who is arrested on new charges after having been released on bail on the prior, underlying charge is “released under conditions” within the meaning of that provision. We hold that the statute applies in such circumstances, and because affirmative habeas relief is no longer available, we reverse the Appellate Division … .
The 2019 bail reform legislation eliminated cash bail for most crimes, except for certain specified qualifying offenses listed in CPL 510.10 (4) … . In 2020, the legislature amended subdivision (4) by expanding the categories of offenses that qualified for bail. The changes included the addition of CPL 510.10 (4) (t), a harm-on-harm provision, by which “an otherwise non-qualifying offense may be converted into a qualifying offense” … . Under that provision, certain ineligible crimes may otherwise qualify for bail if those crimes “arose from conduct occurring while the defendant was released on his or her own recognizance, released under conditions or had yet to be arraigned after the issuance of a desk appearance ticket for a separate felony or class A misdemeanor involving harm to an identifiable person or property” … . For purposes of section (4) (t), the underlying crime need not be a qualifying offense … . People ex rel. Welch v Maginley-Liddie, 2025 NY Slip Op 03645, CtApp 6-17-25
Practice Point: Where a defendant is charged with new offenses committed while on bail, bail may be imposed for the new offenses even where they otherwise would not qualify for the imposition of bail.