A law extending the permissible period for orders of protection by three years to a total of eight applies to crimes committed before the statute’s enactment, a unanimous appeals panel in Brooklyn ruled last week. The decision means that Wesley Foster will remain subject to an order of protection requiring him to stay away from his ex-girlfriend for eight years following his completion of a five-year prison term.
In 2006, Criminal Procedure Law §530.12(5) was amended to increase judges’ discretion to extend the duration of final protective orders in felony-level domestic violence cases. Mr. Foster had pleaded guilty to an array of domestic violence-related charges in 2005, but was given an opportunity to avoid prison if he completed a drug treatment program. He twice entered programs without completing them. As a consequence, he was sentenced in 2008 to a five-year determinate sentence, to be followed by an eight-year order requiring him to stay away from his ex-girlfriend.
