Business groups are mobilizing behind Gov. Kathy Hochul’s push to change the state’s evidence-sharing laws in order to prevent criminal cases from being dropped. The proposal, opposed by public defenders and some civil rights groups, is being viewed with skepticism by Albany lawmakers as they negotiate with Hochul before an April 1 deadline to include it in the state’s budget.
Four of the city’s five district attorneys, business improvement district leaders and anti-violence groups gathered at the Partnership for New York City’s Lower Manhattan office on Tuesday to call on the Legislature to approve Hochul’s changes to discovery laws, which would roll back parts of the state’s landmark 2019 criminal justice reforms. Crime — or the perception of it — is seen as bad for business, and private-sector groups have allied with the governor on other recent pushes to deploy more police on the subways and combat shoplifting.
“It is clear to the city’s business community that the safety of their employees depends on amending state discovery law so that criminal cases can be fairly prosecuted and judges have the discretion to determine whether cases move forward or are dismissed on substantive grounds,” said Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership.
The proposed changes come in response to complaints by local prosecutors who say that since 2019 they have been forced to drop numerous criminal cases based on technicalities. The 2019 laws reformed an outdated system that allowed prosecutors and police to wait months, or even years, to turn over evidence to defense lawyers after their client’s arrest — in one case that stirred outrage, teenager Kalief Browder spent three years on Rikers Island awaiting trial for stealing a backpack, ultimately dying by suicide two years after his 2013 release.
However, now prosecutors complain that the pendulum has swung too far. They say judges are dismissing legitimate cases based on prosecutors’ delays in turning over evidence — sometimes exacerbated by defense lawyers’ deliberate stalling, they say. Prosecutors point to data showing a huge uptick in criminal court case dismissals in New York City, where the rate jumped from 45% in 2019 to 68% in 2024.
Hochul’s proposed “tweaks” include allowing prosecutors to automatically redact sensitive information such as witnesses’ phone numbers and addresses without needing to file time-consuming litigation, and narrowing the amount of information that must be shared with the defense. While current law requires “items and information that relate to the subject matter of the case” to be shared, Hochul would require only materials “relevant … to the subject matter of the charges against the defendant.”
Hochul also wants to loosen rules that require the turnover of physical evidence — stating that prosecutors must only hand over items that are in their personal possession, rather than also being responsible for evidence that might be held by the police.
But opponents of the changes argue they would amount to a reversal of the 2019 reforms, which were widely seen as necessary. The Legal Aid Society has said the changes would “restore a system allowing police and prosecutors to withhold evidence until the eve of trial,” preventing people accused of crimes from mounting adequate defenses.
“Discovery reform is not the problem,” said Tina Luongo, chief attorney for Legal Aid’s criminal defense practice, earlier this month. “The problem is a management issue created by the district attorneys’ failure to face the reality that the required changes to the law necessitated adjustments in their practices.”
Legal Aid and other opponents have noted that the uptick in dismissals has been mostly confined to New York City, even though the laws apply statewide. That may point to other factors, they argue, such as a failure by the NYPD to give prosecutors the evidence they need.
Leaders of the state Senate and Assembly did not include Hochul’s discovery reform proposals in their own one-house budget plans released this month. Instead, some lawmakers have proposed another route — State Sen. Zellnor Myrie and Assemblyman Micah Lasher have advanced a bill that would let prosecutors access police databases to more quickly obtain evidence they are required to give to defense lawyers.
But the coalition backing Hochul’s changes is formidable. It includes all five of the city’s district attorneys as well as dozens of others from across the state; Mayor Eric Adams’ administration, including Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch; and other business groups like the Times Square Alliance and Manhattan Chamber of Commerce.
“Cases are now taking longer, dismissals have increased exponentially, and victims are being harmed,” Queens DA Melinda Katz said Tuesday.
Four New York members of Congress — Dan Goldman, Ritchie Torres, Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen — also joined the conversation on Tuesday, releasing a letter to state leaders that calls on them to adopt similar but distinct changes to the 2019 laws.
Discovery reform is not the only public safety issue drawing interest from business groups in this year’s state budget. Another Hochul proposal to make it easier to involuntarily hospitalize people with serious mental illness has won support from the Association for a Better New York, which commissioned a poll showing widespread support for the measure. It, too, faces an uncertain fate in budget talks.
