Loosening sanctions for prosecutors who fail to turn over evidence in a fair and timely manner has emerged as a priority in protracted discussions about changes to discovery laws that has delayed the state budget.
That’s according to two of New York City’s top district attorneys who met in Albany on Monday with leaders including Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, to advocate for Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed revisions.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Bronx County District Attorney Darcel Clark are among the prosecutors who have advised Hochul in crafting potential changes to how evidence is shared between prosecutors and defense lawyers. The governor, who released the proposal in January, said changes are necessary to close “loopholes” to the current laws that were enacted in 2020.
While lawmakers said they’ve been in “conceptual agreement” on the need to ensure a just discovery process, they have yet to come up with language to reconcile disagreements over specific regulations.
But Bragg and Clark said the negotiations have been progressing.
“We have been working really, really hard to come to a compromise in order to make some smart changes or tweaks to the law so that we can avoid dismissals on technicalities,” Clark said.
The debate over the state’s discovery laws has been the major reason why the state has failed to sign off on the governor’s $252 billion budget, which was due on April 1. Top state Democrats, including Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, have expressed concern that Hochul’s proposal would allow district attorneys to be the “sole arbiter” of evidence.
Clark, who said she has come up to Albany three times now to make her case, said she’s been open to compromise on a proposal from Hochul that would require sharing only evidence that is “relevant” – not “related,” as is stated in current law.
While Clark said prosecutors support changing the standard, she and Bragg said their bigger priority is loosening sanctions for prosecutors if they don’t meet evidence-sharing requirements in a fair and timely manner.
Bragg said too many cases are getting dismissed outright by judges that did not merit that extent of a penalty.
“There’s no way I can explain that outcome,” Bragg said. “I don’t understand it. I think it’s anathema to justice.”
Clark said there should be more paths for recourse if prosecutors don’t meet evidence-sharing requirements. “We want a range of sanctions, not just dismissals,” she said.
But some lawmakers, including members of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus, have stood alongside public defenders in opposition to Hochul’s proposal.
Assemblymember Michaelle Solages, who leads the caucus, said at a rally on Monday that the governor’s proposal would “roll back” the current discovery laws.
The Long Island Democrat and other lawmakers, who have met with prosecutors repeatedly over Hochul’s discovery proposal, are pushing the state to codify case law that states cases won’t be dismissed on technicalities.
“The courts confirm that judges can extend deadlines if needed,” she said. “That's the solution. Codifying the decision is what we need to do, not destroy the law.”
When asked about Bragg and Clark’s comments supporting looser sanctions for discovery violations, Assemblymember Gabriella Romero, D-Albany, said that judges already have a “wide variety” of lesser penalties to consider.
“It's unfortunate that the DA’s don't mention that to all of you, and to the public,” Romero said. “There's a myriad of different things that are existing in the law already that can happen if there is belated disclosure.”
