Criminal use of a chemical weapon or biological weapon in the third degree · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 490.47 Criminal use of a chemical weapon or biological weapon in the
third degree.
A person is guilty of criminal use of a chemical weapon or biological weapon in the third degree when, under circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to human life, he or she uses, deploys, releases, or causes to be used, deployed, or released any select chemical agent or select biological agent, and thereby creates a grave risk of death or serious physical injury to another person not a participant in the crime.
Criminal use of a chemical weapon or biological weapon in the third degree is a class B felony.
Under circumstances showing depraved indifference to human life, using, deploying, or releasing (or causing to be used, deployed, or released) a select chemical or biological agent and thereby creating a grave risk of death or serious physical injury to a nonparticipant is third-degree criminal use of a chemical or biological weapon, a class B felony. ★
Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.
This provision appears in Volume 4 — The Court Clerk: Penal Law; Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Court Officer: Penal Law; Volume 3 — Your Career: Penal Law in Plain English.