June 1, 2015
ALBANY, NY – The family of the late Derek Robie, the young boy from Savona, who was killed in the early 1990’s, they will be at a news conference today in Albany.
State Senator Tom O’Mara and Assemblyman Phil Palmesano are introducing legislation to make it so that killers on parole, will have to wait four years instead of two years, to get their next parole hearing.
“Sponsors and supporters of the legislation believe this longer time frame will help spare the families of victims from having to repeatedly face the emotional difficulty of a parole hearing,” Palmesano and O’Mara said in a joint statement that was issued on Friday afternoon.
Officials say that Eric Smith, who was convicted in 1994 of killing Robie, first became eligible for parole in 2002 and has been denied parole seven times, the last denial coming in April 2014.
Under current law, he’s eligible for another parole hearing next April.
