Governor Kathy Hochul is sounding the alarm and asking for changes in discovery rules for domestic violence cases in New York State.
Current discovery law results in delays and automatic dismissals that adversely affect survivors of domestic violence. Hochul’s office says that following enactment of ‘Discovery Reform’ there has been a 94.3% increase in dismissal of cases involving domestic violence in New York City and 49.1% in the rest of the state.
The Governor is pushing for essential changes to the state’s discovery process that will ensure their abusers are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.
“Combating domestic violence is personal to me — and for the entirety of my career in public service, I’ve prioritized policies that protect survivors and improve law enforcement response to these crimes,” Governor Hochul said. “While crime is going down across New York, crimes related to domestic violence remain stagnant. To address this issue and ensure the safety of all New Yorkers, we need to continue funding the programs that protect victims and survivors, and streamline discovery laws to hold individuals who cause harm accountable for their actions.”
Domestic violence advocates say discovery reform put onerous evidence timing rules in place that are regularly impossible to meet leading to accused abuser to get cut free with no accountability. Prior to the rule changes in 2019 convictions were at 31%, but now just 6% of abusers are convicted.
“The choice between fair and speedy trials, which are important objectives, but also letting dangerous abusers off the hook, is a false choice,” Hochul said. “We must do both.”
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney says the rules need to be changed.
“District Attorney Tierney agrees that Domestic Violence cases and others have suffered under New York's discovery laws and he also agrees that the discovery laws need to change. However, the DA does not support the efforts on the table because he feels that they do not go far enough,” said Tania Lopez Director of Communications for Tierney.
Long Island Against Domestic Violence Executive Director, Wendy Linsalata says, “We are fully behind modifications to the law that are going to help prosecutors be able to prosecute cases. DA Tierney has doubled the size of his DV unit, but even with that in place cases are being dismissed at a much higher rate. At the end of the day, if cases are not prosecuted, survivors will not be comfortable or confident to report abuse again.”
What changes might be put in place?
The Governor proposes tweaks to discovery rules that would ensure procedural fairness, shorten case processing times, reduce the length of pretrial incarceration, and safeguard sensitive and personal information belonging to witnesses. These changes include:
- Expanding the scope of automatic redaction to include sensitive details, such as witnesses’ physical addresses and personal data unrelated to the case, eliminating the need to engage in lengthy litigation to redact such material.
- Removing the incentive to delay bringing a challenge in a manner that can result in technical dismissals unrelated to the merits of the case or the legality of the investigation.
- Ensuring that cases are not dismissed if discovery compliance falls short of perfection.
- Clarifying that prosecutors are not required to track down information that is by definition irrelevant.