Thread by @DanielRAlonso

THREAD: This is some of rhetoric that has ruled the day in the discovery debate - both of the very thoughtful #prosecutors quoted in the article are worried about whether witnesses will be chilled from reporting crimes... /1

https://twitter.com/stengellaw/status/1124007646267367426

... and cooperating w law enforcement if their names will be provided w/in 15 days. Hard to believe that anyone would casually dismiss that concern - even the defense advocates didn’t dismiss the concern *casually*. Yet Mr. Stengel says that their comments are “chilling.” /2

Here’s the Chief ADA from Manhattan (the former boss of Mr. @stengellaw): “Will witnesses want to come forward in the first place?” she said. “We hope it doesn’t deter victims and witnesses from coming forward and reporting a crime.” (From @janransom’s article) /3

She cited a case where providing discovery *directly* led to a witness refusing to testify. I’ll bet many of us might do the same, or our kids. /4

Here’s @DavidSoaresNY, DA of Albany County, a “progressive” elected with support from George Soros, who is president of the DA’s Association: “The only way we can get them to come forward is by promising them we won’t disclose their information until we absolutely have to.” /5

These shouldn’t be radical statements in a society that values public safety, much less “chilling,” as Mr. Stengel states. The truth is that NY *did* need discovery expansion. /6

BUT law that passed makes NY an outlier in its inflexibility. W/o many more prosecutors, I can’t imagine that they will have time to investigate crimes or prepare for trial. They’ll be spending time either producing discovery or drafting applications for protective orders. /7

Have their been abuses? Sure. That’s why we needed expansion of discovery. But the point by Mr. Soares and Ms. Agnifilo are spot on: this will deter people from cooperating out of fear, or just out of not wanting to be bothered. /8

If one wishes there to be fewer convictions, as many do, this will do the trick better than many things. There are lots of arguments to be made on the other side, to be sure. /9

But the attacks on the Albany DA and the Manhattan Chief ADA as saying “chilling” things because they are concerned about witnesses are outrageous and shouldn’t be countenanced. /10

For one view of the problems with NY’s new discovery law, here’s my op-ed from earlier this year. /11 nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-ope…

But this topic is way more nuanced than the 700 words I got for the op-ed. Which is why the #NYS Justice Task Force spent 2 years reviewing it and issued thoughtful recommendations. /12 nyjusticetaskforce.com/recommendation…

The #NYS Legislature ignored the Justice Task Force, appointed by the progressive Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, in favor of the purely political decision to allow defense advocates to draft the bill and *barely* allow the state’s DAs to weigh in. /13