Section 621. Definitions

For the purposes of this article:
    1. "Board" shall mean the crime victims board.
    2.  "Claimant"  shall  mean the person filing a claim pursuant to this
  article.
    3. "Crime" shall mean (a) an act committed in  New  York  state  which
  would,  if  committed  by  a  mentally  competent criminally responsible
  adult, who has no legal exemption or  defense,  constitute  a  crime  as
  defined in and proscribed by law; or
    (b)  an act committed outside the state of New York against a resident
  of the state of New York which would  be  compensable  had  it  occurred
  within  the  state  of New York and which occurred in a state which does
  not have an eligible crime victim compensation program as such  term  is
  defined in the federal victims of crime act of 1984; or
    (c)  an  act  of  terrorism,  as  defined in section 2331 of title 18,
  United States Code, committed outside of the  United  States  against  a
  resident of New York state.
    4.  "Family", when used with reference to a person, shall mean (a) any
  person related to such person within the third degree  of  consanguinity
  or  affinity, (b) any person maintaining a sexual relationship with such
  person, or (c) any person residing  in  the  same  household  with  such
  person.
    5.  "Victim"  shall  mean  (a)  a person who suffers personal physical
  injury as a direct result of a crime; (b) a person who is the victim  of
  either  the  crime  of  (1) unlawful imprisonment in the first degree as
  defined in section 135.10 of the penal law, (2) kidnapping in the second
  degree as defined in section 135.20 of the penal law, (3) kidnapping  in
  the  first  degree  as  defined  in section 135.25 of the penal law, (4)
  labor trafficking as defined in section 135.35 of the penal law, or  (5)
  sex  trafficking  as  defined  in  section 230.34 of the penal law; or a
  person who has had a frivolous lawsuit filed against them.
    6. "Representative" shall mean one who represents  or  stands  in  the
  place  of  another  person,  including  but  not limited to an agent, an
  assignee, an  attorney,  a  guardian,  a  committee,  a  conservator,  a
  partner, a receiver, an administrator, an executor or an heir of another
  person, or a parent of a minor.
    7.  "Good  samaritan"  shall  mean  a  person  who,  other  than a law
  enforcement officer, acts in good faith (a) to apprehend  a  person  who
  has  committed  a  crime  in his presence or who has in fact committed a
  felony, (b) to prevent a crime or an attempted crime from occurring,  or
  (c) to aid a law enforcement officer in effecting an arrest.
    8.  "Essential  personal  property"  shall  mean  articles of personal
  property necessary and essential to the health, welfare or safety of the
  victim.
    9. "Elderly victim" shall mean a person sixty years of  age  or  older
  who suffers loss, or damage as a direct result of a crime.
    10. "Disabled victim" shall mean a person who has (a) physical, mental
  or  medical  impairment  from  anatomical, physiological or neurological
  conditions which prevents the exercise of a normal bodily function or is
  demonstrable by medically accepted  clinical  or  laboratory  diagnostic
  techniques  or  (b)  a  record  of such an impairment or (c) a condition
  regarded by others as such an impairment.
    11. For purposes of this article "child victim" shall  mean  a  person
  less  than  eighteen  years  of  age  who  suffers  physical,  mental or
  emotional injury, or loss or damage, as a direct result of a crime or as
  a result of witnessing a crime.
    12. "Frivolous lawsuit" shall mean a lawsuit brought by the individual
  who committed a crime against the victim  of  the  crime,  found  to  be
  frivolous,  meritless  and commenced to harass, intimidate or menace the

  victim by a court and costs were imposed upon the plaintiff pursuant  to
  section  eighty-three  hundred  three-a  of  the  civil practice law and
  rules.
    13. "Crime scene cleanup" shall mean removing, or attempting to remove
  from  the  crime  scene,  blood,  dirt,  stains, debris, odors, or other
  impurities caused by the crime or the processing of the crime scene  and
  the  repair  or  replacement  of permanent fixtures and floor coverings,
  soiled, damaged, or rendered unusable or uncleanable by the  crime,  the
  processing of the crime scene, or by being taken into evidence.
    14.  "Securing  a  crime scene" shall mean taking immediate, emergency
  steps to return the residence where the crime occurred to the  level  of
  safety  present prior to the crime. It shall include, but not be limited
  to, the repair or replacement of doors, windows, screens  and  locks  or
  other points of entry damaged or rendered unusable by the crime.
    15.  "Livery"  shall  mean  a  for-hire  vehicle  duly licensed by the
  appropriate local licensing authority, designed to carry  no  more  than
  five  passengers  for direct cash payment by such passenger and which is
  affiliated with a livery car base. The term "livery" shall not include a
  vehicle driven by a "black car operator",  as  defined  in  section  one
  hundred sixty-cc of this chapter.
    16. "Livery car base" shall mean a central facility, wherever located,
  that  dispatches  the  livery  operator  to  both  pick-up and discharge
  passengers in the state.
    17. "Livery operator" shall mean the registered owner of a livery,  or
  a  driver  designated by such registered owner to operate the registered
  owner's livery as the  registered  owner's  authorized  designee,  whose
  status  as  a  livery  operator victim arose out of and in the course of
  providing services while affiliated with a livery  car  base.  The  term
  "livery  operator"  shall not include a "black car operator", as defined
  in section one hundred sixty-cc of this chapter.
    18. "Livery operator victim" shall mean  a  livery  operator  homicide
  victim or a livery operator assault victim.
    19.  "Livery operator assault victim" shall mean a livery operator who
  is the victim of a violent felony offense, as defined in subdivision one
  of section 70.02 of the penal law, which offense directly results  in  a
  serious  physical injury, as defined in subdivision ten of section 10.00
  of the penal law.
    20. "Livery operator homicide victim" shall mean a livery operator who
  is the  victim  of  a  homicide,  as  defined  in  article  one  hundred
  twenty-five of the penal law.
    21.  "Local licensing authority" shall mean the governmental agency in
  the state, if any, that is authorized  to  license  a  livery  and/or  a
  livery car base.
    22.  "Financial counselling" shall mean financial services provided by
  an experienced financial counsellor or adviser which  may  include,  but
  are  not  limited to: analysis of a victim's financial situation such as
  income producing  capacity  and  crime  related  financial  obligations,
  assistance  with  restructuring budget and debt, assistance in accessing
  insurance,  public  assistance  and  other   benefits,   assistance   in
  completing  the  financial  aspects  of  victim  impact  statements, and
  assistance in settling estates and handling guardianship matters.
    23. "Relocation expenses" shall mean the cost of  relocating  a  crime
  victim,  when  relocation  is  necessary for the health or safety of the
  victim. Relocation expenses shall include the reasonable cost of  moving
  and transportation expenses.