Discovery reform legislation continues clash over defendants' or victims' rights

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — Democratic State Senator Cordell Cleare introduced S7313 on Wednesday as state budget negotiations remained stalled over discovery reform. The new measure would enshrine standards into law from People v. Bay, requiring prosecutors to show that they exercised due diligence before filing a certificate of compliance.

Budget talks have dragged past the April 1 deadline as policymakers and advocates remain deadlocked over whether to uphold the 2019 discovery reforms, widely known as Kalief’s Law. The current law makes prosecutors share all evidence with defense attorneys promptly so accused New Yorkers can prepare a proper defense. Undoing these reforms would roll back progress that helps prevent wrongful convictions and coerced pleas, according to critics.

Cleare's bill—which has no Assembly counterpart so far—adds a new subdivision to Criminal Procedure Law section 245.50 directing trial courts to consider whether the prosecution filed a certificate of compliance in good faith after reasonably and thoroughly securing all required evidence. The bill would make judges weigh the prosecution’s efforts—timing of actions, volume of evidence, and whether any missing evidence was flagged—before marking the case as ready for trial.

On Friday, the Legal Aid Society praised "this common-sense legislation that will strengthen evidence-sharing practices throughout New York State by codifying People v. Bay. Instead of the Governor’s ill-conceived and reckless proposal to upend New York State’s discovery statute—while bringing the budget process to a complete standstill despite daily threats to our democracy and New Yorkers’ well-being from the new administration—this is a surgical measure inspired by New York’s highest court, and it should be debated robustly outside the budget, with full input from those potentially impacted by this measure."

The Legal Aid Society’s statement came as the governor continued to press her plans to limit discovery only to what's in the prosecutor’s actual possession and that they deem relevant to the case. Gov. Kathy Hochul held a press conference on April 10 in her Albany office with domestic violence survivors to discuss the proposal, reaffirming a commitment to changing rules that cause dismissals because of technicalities of strict deadlines. She said that discovery delays lead to dismissals in violent cases.

During the session, domestic violence survivors described the emotional impact of evidence delays and their inability to find justice. One survivor said that procedural technicalities forced her to relive trauma in court. “I’m going to keep fighting to put this in the budget,” Hochul said. This is my path to getting this done, and I'll always remember the faces and the voices of these brave women."

Democratic lawmakers who back Kalief's Law as is cite People v. Bay—a unanimous court decision from December 2023—as legal precedent that a certificate of compliance must reflect real efforts to gather and share evidence and that cases can't be thrown out on a technicality. In People v. Bay, the court ruled that "a defendant need not demonstrate prejudice to obtain speedy trial dismissal based on a failure to timely comply with discovery obligations."

Reforming Kalief's Law would fix loopholes, according to the governor, who insisted that changes won't compromise swift and fair access to case materials. The debate hinges on whether limited discovery would force innocent individuals into coerced pleas—a fear amplified by testimony from public defenders and district attorneys at Capitol budget hearings in recent months.

Lawmakers and advocates, including the Legal Aid Society and the Innocence Project, argue that Hochul's proposed changes would weaken an already minimal safety net protecting New Yorkers who are innocent until proven guilty. They say that prosecutorial discretion to decide which evidence to share will drive up wrongful convictions and bad plea deals from defendants lacking the resources to defend themselves against state prosecutors.