ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) — Governor Kathy Hochul has been holding press conferences every day this week on her proposed changes to the state’s discovery law.
The die hard Buffalo Bills fan used a football analogy to describe how close they are to an agreement.
“We’re not in the end zone, maybe we are on the five yard line,” said Hochul. “But I know one thing from football, you don’t spike it until the game is over or until you get the touchdown.”
On Tuesday, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said part of the negotiations centers around a 2023 court of appeals ruling in a case called the People Versus Bay. According to Attorney Bob Babcock, the case deals with the timeframe prosecution has to share evidence with the defense.
“People versus Bay is a ruling that came out that stated that if the prosecution fails to comply with its obligation to turn over discovery, which is basically evidence, in a case in a timely fashion the remedies of failure to do so can be severe all the way up to and dismissal of the charges,” explained Babcock, a Partner at Tully Rinckey.
According to the governor, there has been an 26 percent increase in domestic violence cases being thrown out since 2019. Heastie said he’s been working with district attorneys.
“DA Bragg brought up a case where a domestic violence victim’s case was dismissed because there was a picture that I think the victim’s best friend had taken and the prosecution turned that over and that led to a dismissal,” said Heastie. “We kinda used that kind of case to get us to where we needed to be.”
Some lawmakers have worried that changes to the state’s discovery law could result in wrongful convictions.
The speaker mentioned on Tuesday that prejudice would be a factor for judges to consider.
