Amanda Lynn's Law passed by New York State Senate


Grisanti urges the Assembly to approve bill named after Buffalo woman found dead inside garbage tote

New York State Sen. Mark Grisanti announced the New York State Senate voted to pass Bill S.1590, which makes it a crime to conceal a death by knowingly moving or otherwise hiding a human corpse so that discovery of the death will be hindered.

The bill, also referred to as "Amanda Lynn's Law," would make the commission of this crime a D felony, up from a misdemeanor for the improper disposal of a dead body.

Grisanti sponsors the bill. Amanda Lynn's Law has passed the Senate the past two years. It will now be sent to the Assembly.

"I am pleased that the Senate has voted to pass this law in honor of Amanda Lynn," Grisanti said. "The current law on the books is totally inadequate for the seriousness of the crime of improperly disposing of a human being. With the passing of Amanda Lynn's Law, anyone who attempts to move or conceal a body in the attempt to hinder its discovery will find the full weight of the legal system thrown at them."

In January 2009, Amanda Wienckowski's naked body was found stuffed inside a garbage tote. The exact cause of her death has been disputed ever since, and one key issue in the investigation has been where her body was found. It is believed that her corpse was moved from the original crime scene.

Grisanti strongly urged his colleagues in the Assembly to follow the Senate's lead and approve the bill.

"This vote is my latest attempt to get this bill introduced to the Assembly and hopefully become a law," he said. "As an attorney, I took particular interest in this legislation. We know that poor Amanda did not land in that Dumpster by herself. Somebody put her there. When somebody does something so horrendous like that, they need to be held accountable. They are tampering with evidence and tampering with the potential of a crime scene. The time has come to act on this."

The proposed law will now go to the New York State Assembly for consideration. If approved by the Assembly, the bill would advance to be signed by the governor so that the law would go into effect later this year.

Grisanti currently represents the 60^th Senate District, which includes parts of the City of Buffalo, the northtowns and the southtowns. He is chairman of the environmental conservation committee and currently sits on the finance, cities, cultural affairs, tourism, parks and recreation, higher education, infrastructure and capital investment, insurance, labor and veterans, homeland security and military affairs committees in the Senate.