Tina Luongo,  Chief Attorney of The Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Defense Practice, recently joined Capital Tonight to discuss Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed changes to New York State’s discovery laws, which govern evidence sharing between defenders and prosecutors.

While the changes have been described as tweaks, The Governor’s proposed changes would effectively repeal the 2019 reforms that incentivized prosecutors to share evidence in a timely manner or face the consequence of potentially having their case dismissed.

“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,” Luongo explained.

Luongo points to a bill introduced by State Senator Zellnor Myrie and Assemblymember Micah Lasher that would give prosecutors direct access to police evidence databases as the way forward to address concerns over cases being dismissed.

“The solution is providing the district attorneys access to law enforcement data,” Luongo said. “[The Myrie-Lasher bill] is the solution to what is happening.”

Watch the full segment here.

Take Action

Tell your elected officials to hold the line on discovery reform.