Today, many people distrust our justice system because they believe it is predicated on presumed guilt rather than presumed innocence. Headlines are filled with reports of men and women who have served time for crimes they did not commit. To combat this problem, the New York State Legislature is working on a number changes to the state's laws aimed at preventing future wrongful convictions and rectifying those that have already occurred.
In 2008, the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) formed the Task Force on Wrongful Convictions. The group of respected legal professionals and educators examined more than 50 wrongful conviction cases and discovered startling evidentiary and procedural issues at the heart of the convictions. Based on those findings, the New York Legislature has proposed six bills that lawmakers hope will reduce, if not eliminate, the problem of wrongful convictions.
One the bills, S7842, would amend the state's criminal procedure laws to reduce the risk of erroneous eyewitness identifications. The bill proposes new identification procedures and professional training, in response to the discovery by the Task Force that the majority of wrongful convictions involve faulty eyewitness identifications.
The Task Force also discovered that even innocent people will plead guilty if they believe that the evidence is stacked against them. To reduce the impact of false confessions, S7867 would amend the laws governing the use of exonerating DNA evidence that is discovered after conviction in cases where the defendant pled guilty.
Another aspect of the legislation addresses the problem of faulty confessions. Under the terms of S7877, a written or oral confession would be inadmissible unless accompanied by a contemporaneous electronic recording of the entire interrogation during which the confession took place. The recording must be unaltered, and must identify all individuals speaking. In addition, the recording must include the defendant's statement of invocation or waiver of the right to remain silent or to have an attorney present.
Furthermore, S7873, introduced by Senator Duane, seeks to prevent wrongful convictions by amending the state law governing the use of informant testimony as evidence in court. The new law would make informant testimony inadmissible unless corroborated.
Exculpatory evidence is yet another matter addressed by the proposed legislation. S7893 includes a comprehensive definition of exculpatory information, disclosure and delivery guidelines, and sanctions to be levied against lawyers who fail to comply with these guidelines.
While most of the recent legislation focuses on combating the root causes of wrongful convictions, one bill addresses the state's need to make amends to individuals who have been imprisoned for crimes they did not commit: S7868 provides that exonerated individuals would be eligible for subsistence funds and re-entry services after their convictions are overturned. Re-entry services could include job training, education, health care and other assistance.
While wrongful conviction statutes are part of a national trend toward promoting fairness and accuracy in the criminal justice system, some critics point out that the proposed reforms would put a considerable burden on prosecutors and may offer savvy criminals a way of avoiding conviction.
