Critics of the 2020 discovery laws reform argue that prosecutors no longer have access to law enforcement systems needed to obtain information like police reports. But a bill sponsored by state Sen. Zellnor Myrie and state Assemblyman Micah Lasher addresses that hurdle. 

The two Democrats have introduced bills that would give prosecutors access to systems they need to fulfill their discovery requirements. S613-A825 would require police departments to provide district attorneys’ offices access to their electronic records for discovery purposes. 

While district attorneys are pushing Gov. Kathy Hochul’s more comprehensive reforms, defense advocates like Tina Luongo, chief attorney with the Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Defense Practice, and immediate past chair of American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section, have called those changes “complete rollbacks."

“If the governor and the district attorneys have their way, we’re going back to a long, long bad history here of wrongful convictions, court delays and no due process for people who are accused,” she told Capital Tonight. 

Former defense attorney and current Albany District Attorney Lee Kindlon disagrees, though he was, at one time, a supporter of the 2020 discovery reforms.

“Now that we’ve worked with them for a number of years, practitioners understand that nothing is ever perfect, especially when it first starts and so now we need to tweak the laws a little bit,” he explained to Capital Tonight last week. 

While there is a clear division on the issue between defense attorneys and prosecutors, the Myrie-Lasher bill is a compromise that Legal Aid would support.

“Misdemeanor cases are being dismissed and the reality there is the solution is in providing the district attorneys access to law enforcement data,” Luongo said. “[The Myrie-Lasher bill] is the solution to what is happening.”