S 1285 New York Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Relates to jury deliberations

S 1285, the "Tiarah Poyau Act," allows juries in criminal trials to request written instructions about legal requirements (such as offense elements or defenses) during deliberations. The bill requires courts to provide these written instructions upon request, after giving attorneys a chance to review and comment on them. This change aims to clarify legal standards for juries without altering substantive law. It directly affects juries, judges, and defense/prosecution attorneys in criminal cases. The bill passed the Senate in April 2025 and is now in the Assembly.

Issues: ✓ Criminal Justice

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

Assembly Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 9, 2025 Last action Mar 5, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

S1285 → S1285A · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill amendment adds procedural safeguards for written jury instructions in criminal cases. The change ensures that before a judge provides written instructions to a jury, both the requested instructions and any other relevant instructions must be reviewed by counsel, who is then given a chance to comment before the instructions are finalized and read to the jury.

Scope change

The scope remains the same (criminal procedure law regarding jury deliberations), but the process for handling written jury instructions has been expanded to include additional review steps.

REQUIREMENT

Added requirement that courts must permit counsel to examine both requested jury instructions and any other relevant written instructions before providing them to the jury.

Added requirement that counsel must be afforded an opportunity to be heard regarding the written instructions before they are marked as court exhibits and read to the jury.

TECHNICAL

Updated bill identification from S. 1285 to S. 1285--A and changed committee status from initial reading to favorable report and second report.

Floor votes · Senate Apr 8, 2025

How they voted

62–0

Passed · 1 other

Total votes 63

Apr 8, 2025

D Democratic41

40 Yea 1

97% Yea

R Republican22

22 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Mar 5, 2026

Committee

REFERRED TO CODES

lower

Mar 5, 2026

Upper · Passed

PASSED SENATE

upper

Jan 7, 2026

Committee

REFERRED TO CODES

upper

Apr 8, 2025

Committee

REFERRED TO CODES

lower

Apr 8, 2025

Upper · Passed

PASSED SENATE

upper

Jan 28, 2025

Upper · Passed

AMENDED 1285A

upper

Jan 9, 2025

Committee

REFERRED TO CODES

upper

1 primary · 8 co-sponsors