A band of New York Democratic lawmakers in Washington is putting pressure on Albany to support a proposal being pushed by Gov. Kathy Hochul to reform the state’s maligned evidence laws — which critics have slammed as “pro-criminal.”
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) penned a stern letter calling on Empire State pols to stand up for victims of crime and adjust the discovery mandates, which fail to “balance the rights of the accused” with the need to “maintain public safety.”
He is joined by Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and Laura Gillen (D-NY) on the letter.
Reps. Dan Goldman, Ritchie Torres, Laura Gillen and Tom Suozzi, all New York Democrats, are backing a proposal from New York City district attorneys to adjust New York’s discovery statutes. Paul MartinkaThe current statutes passed in 2019 create situations where entire cases can get tossed out based on missing and tardily entered pieces of evidence called discovery, the pols allege.
“This rigid standard has resulted in thousands of dismissals of criminal cases each year, including serious cases, often with no regard to the merits or fairness of the original charge,” the group of pols writes.
NY POST DESIGNThe reps specifically call for action on discovery that includes three major provisions covered by Hochul’s proposal:
- Require that defendants show they were “prejudiced” by prosecutors failing to turn over evidence in order for a case to be wholly dismissed instead of remedied.
- Require defendants to challenge disagreements over discovery with 35 days of prosecutors certifying they’ve turned everything over.
- Clarify that prosecutors only have to turn over materials “directly relevant to the charges” in a case instead of the much broader standard of turning over all materials “related to” a case, as the statute is written now.
The letter comes amid bipartisan calls to reform the evidence-related mandates.
“This is not a matter of fairness; it is a consequence of an overly broad and inflexible statute that fails to balance the rights of the accused with the need to protect victims and maintain public safety,” the letter reads.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed changes to discovery are one of the major policy initiatives being pushed by Hochul in the state budget deal due April 1. Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul
Reps. Ritchie Torres, Laura Gillen and Tom Suozzi joined in on the letter.
Hochul’s proposal is meeting predictable resistance from civil liberties and public defender groups in Albany that are allied with lefty lawmakers in the Legislature.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) described the issue last week as one of the main topics of conversation holding up budget talks — along with the governor’s proposals to ban phones during the school day, make it easier to involuntarily commit people dealing with mental health issues, and a new push to place restrictions on mask-wearing.
