Section 720.15. Youthful offender procedure; sealing of accusatory instrument; privacy of proceedings; preliminary instructions to jury

1. When an accusatory instrument against an apparently eligible  youth
  is  filed with a court, it shall be filed as a sealed instrument, though
  only with respect to the public.
    2. When a youth is initially arraigned upon an accusatory  instrument,
  such  arraignment  and  all proceedings in the action thereafter may, in
  the discretion of  the  court  and  with  the  defendant's  consent,  be
  conducted in private.
    3.  The  provisions  of  subdivisions  one  and  two  of  this section
  requiring or authorizing the accusatory instrument filed against a youth
  to be sealed, and the arraignment and all proceedings in the  action  to
  be  conducted  in  private  shall not apply in connection with a pending
  charge of committing any felony offense as defined in the penal law. The
  provisions of subdivision one requiring the accusatory instrument  filed
  against  a  youth  to  be  sealed  shall  not apply where such youth has
  previously been adjudicated a youthful offender or convicted of a crime.