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Q&A
Staffing shortages and impact of discovery law loopholes on criminal cases
2:30:47
ยท
55 sec
Council Member Ariola and Commissioner Tisch discuss the staffing shortages in both the NYPD and district attorneys' offices for processing discovery requests, as well as the impact of discovery law loopholes on criminal cases.
- Ariola highlights the lack of staffing to process discovery requests in both the NYPD and district attorneys' offices
- She mentions that district attorneys in the five boroughs report not having enough staff to process discovery laws as currently written
- Commissioner Tisch explains how discovery law loopholes can lead to cases involving violent career criminals being dismissed on technicalities
- Tisch emphasizes the need to close loopholes that allow cases to be tossed out due to minor paperwork issues unrelated to the case outcome
Joann Ariola
2:30:47
Correct.
2:30:48
Also, what's not being taken into account is the lack of staffing to process that both with the NYPD and at the the district attorney's office because those are other discussions that we've had.
2:31:00
The the a d the district attorneys in the five boroughs are saying that they don't have enough staffing to really process the discovery laws in the way they're written today.
Jessica Tisch
2:31:10
Yeah.
2:31:11
And some of the outcomes related to problems with the discovery laws are so maddening because cases involving violent career criminals are tossed out on technicalities, like a piece of paperwork not being produced that has absolutely no bearing what so ever on the ultimate outcome of the case.
2:31:38
And it's that type of loophole that we're looking to have closed.