The state budget, now over two weeks late, may be slightly closer to completion now that Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has announced a “framework” of a deal on the issue of discovery. “I just briefed my conference, and we’re in a good place,” Heastie told reporters on Tuesday, additionally thanking New York City’s five district attorneys, whom he had been discussing the matter with. The non-fiscal issue has been a major priority for Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has said she would not sign a budget without changes to the law that governs evidence-sharing and has been holding up the budget until coming to an agreement.
Details of the conceptual deal, which still needs a thumbs-up from the governor, remain murky. But Heastie said the compromise would allow judges to consider prejudice when it comes to missing evidence – a matter that had emerged as a key sticking point between prosecutors and public defenders.
District attorneys around the state, who have played an outsized role in the negotiations, have made it clear that they won’t budge unless judges can consider whether a missing piece of evidence would unfairly prejudice the defense before deciding whether to dismiss a case. Criminal justice reform advocates, meanwhile, have viewed that question of prejudice as a hard line in the sand…