Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
Q&A
Resources and challenges related to discovery reform implementation
5:53:25
ยท
3 min
Council Member Yusef Salaam inquires about the resources needed to meet the demands of discovery reform. The DAs discuss the challenges and resource requirements associated with implementing discovery reforms.
- Queens DA explains how discovery reforms can lead to case dismissals due to technicalities
- Staten Island DA emphasizes the need for more funding to meet discovery obligations
- DAs collectively highlight the need for both additional resources and legislative changes to address discovery reform challenges
Yusef Salaam
5:53:25
So I want to move maybe to some questions on discovery.
5:53:28
Does the preliminary plan provide all the resources your offices need to meet the demands of discovery reform?
Melinda Katz
5:53:41
Mister president?
5:53:54
The discovery reforms that are in the legislature right now lead to more efficient offices and more efficient cases as we move forward.
5:54:03
It allows for us to prosecute the cases, work with the bench, and make sure that the changes that we are asking for leads to our cases being moved forward.
5:54:15
That's what we are trying to do.
5:54:17
So for instance, if every time there is a discovery issue, even if it's a technical issue that is left out of discovery and our cases are dismissed, that leads to our ADAs and our investigators and our support staff putting a lot of time and effort into those cases that ultimately might be dismissed for a technicality like in one of my cases for instance, a pepper spray wasn't secured by a police officer in a case that had nothing to do with the case we were prosecuting.
5:54:44
That was not turned over.
5:54:46
That case was dismissed.
5:54:47
In another case, we had a transfer ticket for someone who was in jail and that was not also turned over and our case was dismissed.
5:54:56
So at the end of the day, the less we have of these technical sort of dismissals that provide for thirtythirty, I think the more efficient the system is.
5:55:09
Mr.
5:55:09
President, our DASNY would you like to add anything?
Michael McMahon
5:55:13
Yeah, we all need, and I think everyone's testified, that we need more funding to meet the burdens of gathering the information and processing
Lincoln Restler
5:55:25
it
Michael McMahon
5:55:25
and then turning it over.
5:55:26
There's no question about that.
5:55:27
We need more assistance.
5:55:28
They're overburdened.
5:55:29
The paralegals are overburdened.
5:55:31
And even in terms of storage, cloud storage, if you will, we need more resources there across the board.
5:55:39
But it the the issue is sort of unparalleled that we that we talk about when it comes to discovery because, yes, we have that operational need to be able to do things, but the reforms that we're presenting to Albany now, the mild adjustments are simply to say, even when we do all that, if there's a technical miss or something that doesn't affect the outcome of the case or the rights of the accused, the cases shouldn't be dismissed because of that.
5:56:04
There are other remedies that the court should consider.
5:56:07
That's that's you know, so that's there.
5:56:10
What we need to meet our obligations, yes, we do need more resources, mister chairman, across the board.
5:56:16
We need more paralegals.
5:56:17
We need more technical support.
5:56:19
But but that is not what we're talking about when we go to Albany.
5:56:23
I
Darcel Clark
5:56:25
would just add with the resources definitely.
5:56:29
When these all these issues came up, it's like, oh, it's a resource and we'll just give you more money.
5:56:33
We received more money.
5:56:34
We're using it.
5:56:35
We still have the issue.
5:56:36
So d a McMahon is right.
5:56:38
We need the change in the law to change it because all the money in the world, all the staffing and everything doesn't stop a dismissal of a case when it's based on a technicality.
5:56:49
So that's where the difference is.