A metropolis councilman desires to shut a discovery regulation loophole that’s sparking pointless felony case dismissals — with a tweak Albany lawmakers left on the chopping room flooring throughout funds season.
Councilman Keith Powers is pushing laws that might create a centralized database of NYPD proof accessible by prosecutors and protection attorneys, which may assist officers adjust to burdensome evidence-sharing necessities below the state’s 2019 felony justice reforms.
Powers, who can also be working for Manhattan borough president, stated the brand new regulation would complement tweaks to the state discovery legal guidelines in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s newest funds that lastly handed late Thursday in response to large, bipartisan backlash to the reforms.
“We think it’s a good, easy piece of the puzzle and a critical piece that Albany is leaving out of the budget deal,” Powers (D-Manhattan) informed The Put up.
New York state’s present discovery legal guidelines have been blasted due to aggressive deadlines for proof sharing in felony circumstances that critics say result in circumstances to be dismissed and criminals minimize free with out dealing with justice due to technicalities.
Hochul unveiled her beautiful $254 billion funds take care of just a few tweaks within the discovery regulation language — with state lawmakers touting the deal as addressing the excessive variety of dismissals.
Powers, although, desires to mitigate NYPD’s onerous proof necessities by giving the town’s prosecutors and protection attorneys direct entry to a centralized digital proof system.
In New York Metropolis, prosecutors depend on NYPD workers to compile the proof, making it much more troublesome for prosecutors to fulfill the aggressive discovery deadlines.
Powers’ invoice expenses the police commissioner with giving prosecutors credentials to entry NYPD’s digital proof data – however the attorneys would solely have the ability to view, obtain or print the data.
“This bill is a common-sense procedural reform that speeds up processes, allowing district attorneys to do their work and making it easier to comply with state discovery law,” Powers stated.
An almost an identical invoice was proposed in Albany by mayoral candidate and state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, however acquired little to no traction in the course of the funds debates.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch beforehand informed reporters the database wouldn’t deal with the core problem of the invention flaws, calling it a half-measure as she lobbied for the adjustments that had been finally agreed on in subsequent 12 months’s funds.
Liberal prosecutors, reminiscent of Manhattan District Lawyer Alvin Bragg, have lined up behind discovery reforms on the state stage.
However the metropolis’s prime prosecutors declined to weigh in on Energy’s invoice.
Spokespersons for the Staten Island and the Brooklyn DAs stated their places of work had been nonetheless reviewing the laws.
Prison-case dismissals in New York Metropolis stood at 41% earlier than the invention reforms have seen a large 455% surge in pressured dismissals since 2020, when then-Gov. Cuomo signed a regulation tightening discovery guidelines on prosecutors, Workplace of Court docket Administration knowledge present.
Beneath the adjustments to discovery within the funds, judges have the ability to think about the prosecutors’ efforts in trying to find the knowledge earlier than dismissing a case.
The tweaks additionally slim the proof that should be turned over to take away frivolous requests that don’t have any actual bearing on the case, a problem DAs have spoken out about repeatedly since 2019.
However Powers stated even with the invention reform on the state stage, the town nonetheless must modernize its evidence-sharing course of.
“Safety is a top priority for all New Yorkers. While we’ve continued to see crime fall, it’s as important as ever that we give prosecutors the tools they need to bring criminals to justice,” he stated.
The laws picked three extra cosponsors since Powers launched it April 24. Along with Councilwoman Lynn C. Schulman, council members Farah N. Louis, Chris Banks and Lincoln Restler signed on to help the invoice.
