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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Tina Luongo, Chief Attorney of Criminal Defense Practice at Legal Aid Society
8:40:03
ยท
4 min
Tina Luongo, Chief Attorney of the Criminal Defense Practice at Legal Aid Society, provides testimony on discovery reform in New York City's criminal legal system. She argues that the 2019 discovery law did not create more discovery but required prosecutors to turn over existing evidence, emphasizing its importance for justice and fairness.
- Luongo criticizes the level of misinformation shared earlier about discovery reform and its implementation.
- She highlights the need for technology and staffing to efficiently handle discovery, mentioning that both prosecutors and defenders are still in the process of implementing new systems.
- Luongo argues against Governor Hochul's proposal, stating it would cause more delays and lead to increased motions from public defenders.
- She cites data showing that felony cases are not being dismissed as a result of discovery reform, contrary to some claims.
Tina Luongo
8:40:03
Good evening and thank you very much for this opportunity, chair Salaam, and also for your dedication to sit here and listen to the testimony.
8:40:12
I'm Tina Longo.
8:40:13
I'm the chief attorney of the criminal defense practice and I've served the people of New York City as the chief defender and a public defender at Legal Aid Society for over twenty years.
8:40:24
And from that seat, I have watched the city reform laws brings some segment of justice and fairness to the criminal legal system, stop, stop and frisk, right, remove broken windows policing from our courts.
8:40:45
But I have to admit that with my status of being somewhat of a veteran at this table, I am perplexed and very disappointed in the level of information or misinformation that was shared earlier today about discovery reform in our state.
8:41:05
And I feel that while the issue of salaries for public defenders and monies for our office is critically important, we also have to second the record straight to some of the things that we shared today.
8:41:18
Let's be honest about discovery first and foremost.
8:41:22
The discovery law that was passed in Albany in 2019 and went into effect on 01/01/2020, '2 months before the world stopped with a pandemic, did not create more discovery to be handed over.
8:41:40
It simply requires the prosecutors to turn over discovery that exists.
8:41:50
So when I practiced, when I first started in in New York City, in this county over at 100 Center Street, and my client was to take a plea or go to trial or go to hearing, and I was given 15 pages of papers and told to try the case, we did.
8:42:10
But that's not justice.
8:42:12
That's not fairness.
8:42:14
That created wrongful convictions.
8:42:16
That created tons of appeals and delays on the backs of the people we represented.
8:42:23
The fact is that, yes, discovery reform created the obligation of prosecutors to turn over more.
8:42:31
And we actually agree with the prosecutors on a few points here that I think are important.
8:42:36
Technology and staffing is critical, which is why three years ago, all the defender chiefs and all the prosecutors wrote the mayor and told the governor what was needed was funding.
8:42:49
And that funding just started to flow only a couple of years ago, and I wanna set the record straight.
8:42:56
You heard DA Gonzalez talk about a system that they're putting in place that will make efficient discovery review.
8:43:03
They're building that system now.
8:43:05
It's not in place.
8:43:07
Legal Aid Society is using that same vendor.
8:43:09
Our system isn't in place either because it takes a really long time to put that technology in.
8:43:15
And I raised that because governor Hochul's proposal is not a tweak.
8:43:21
It isn't going to be more efficient, and in fact, it's going to cause more delay because I will tell you what the public defenders in New York City will do and state.
8:43:31
We will file motions because we aren't getting the proper discovery because under the governor's proposal, the prosecutor will be able to dictate what gets turned over or not.
8:43:42
We will fight that.
8:43:44
Last thing I want to say, and I know there are other people, but I'm hoping that the folks that are here in the public want to understand what discovery, what the data shows.
8:43:56
Felony cases are not being dismissed.
8:44:01
The OCA data shows that and judge Zayas who testified in the state hearing specifically was asked whether or not cases are being dismissed and his answer was felony cases are not being dismissed as a result of discovery.