New York Laws
Article 630 - Securing Attendance as Witnesses of Persons Confined in Institutions Within the State
630.20 - Securing Attendance of Witnesses Confined in Institutions Within the State; When and by What Courts Order May Be Issued.

within the state; when and by what courts order may be

issued.

The following courts and judges may, under the indicated
circumstances, order production as witnesses of persons confined by
court order in institutions within the state.

1. If the criminal action or proceeding is one pending in a superior
court or with a superior court judge sitting as a local criminal court,
such court may, except as provided in subdivision four, order the
production as a witness therein of a person confined in any institution
in the state.

2. If the criminal action or proceeding is one pending in a district
court or the New York City criminal court, such court may order the
production as a witness therein of a person confined in any institution
within the state other than a state prison. Production therein of a
prospective witness confined in a state prison may, except as provided
in subdivision four, be ordered, upon application of the party desiring
to call him, by a judge of a superior court holding a term thereof in
the county in which the action or proceeding is pending.

3. If the criminal action or proceeding is one pending in a city
court or a town court or a village court, such court may order the
production as a witness therein of a person confined in a county jail of
such county. Production therein of a prospective witness confined in
any other institution within the state may, except as provided in
subdivision four, be ordered, upon application of the party desiring to
call him, by a judge of a superior court holding a term thereof in the
county in which the action or proceeding is pending.

4. Regardless of the court in which the criminal action or proceeding
is pending, production as a witness therein of a prisoner who has been
sentenced to death may be ordered, upon application of the party
desiring to call him, only by a justice of the appellate division of the
department in which the action or proceeding is pending. The
application for such order, if made by the defendant, must be upon
notice to the district attorney of the county in which the action or
proceeding is pending, and an application made by either party must be
based upon a showing that the prisoner's attendance is clearly necessary
in the interests of justice. Upon issuing such an order, the appellate
division justice may fix and include therein any terms or conditions
which he deems appropriate for execution thereof.

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