NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch promised Thursday not to pull punches if Albany’s deal to change discovery law doesn’t close “dangerous, unforeseen loopholes” that allow criminals to go free.
The yet-to-be-seen tweaks to the state’s evidence-sharing laws need to stop a rash of criminal case dismissals that have nothing to do with guilt or innocence, Tisch said during a speech at New York Law School.
“It’s about closing dangerous unforeseen loopholes that have prioritized criminal defendants over crime victims,” she said.
The commissioner strongly hinted she wouldn’t support a watered-down deal.
“I am eager to see the actual language because the details matter,” she said. “If it’s strong, I will say so. If it’s not, I will say that too. I’m a straight shooter.”
Tisch’s wait-and-see stance came as Democratic state lawmakers said they reached a deal with the Big Apple’s five district attorneys to revamp the law — a major priority for Gov. Kathy Hochul in the still-ongoing budget talks.
Hochul acknowledged the agreement Wednesday, but wonkily insisted it didn’t count as a “deal” until the ink was dry on the final language of the agreement.
But the deal’s broad strokes indicate it could include a major ask from Tisch.
The top cop has complained that the current discovery laws have led to huge evidence requests often unrelated to the criminal case, such as police officers’ time cards.
The deal seeks to solve that by requiring prosecutors to just turn over evidence “relevant” to charges, instead of the broader “related” to the case.
Many progressive groups, such as The Legal Aid Society, have argued that change — and others — would give prosecutors too much power and would lead to criminal defendants languishing in jail awaiting trial.
Opponents have disputed that the revamped discovery laws led to a spike in criminal case dismissals in New York City, which stood at 41% before the reforms passed in 2019 and have since shot up to 62%.
Tisch, for her part, pushed back against Legal Aid attorneys’ contention that the dismissal spike is because NYPD cops have been slow-walking sharing evidence with prosecutors, rather than the discovery laws.
“We have revamped many of our systems — our body camera system, our case management system, our arrest processing system — in order to be able to get our prosecutorial partners direct, or more direct, access to the information that they are required to put forward,” she said.
Tisch’s wide-ranging speech was interrupted by protesters calling for her to fire Lt. Jonathan Rivera, who fatally shot motorist Allan Feliz during a 2019 traffic stop.
The decision is on Tisch’s desk whether or not terminate Rivera after an internal police judge recommended that the commissioner fire him.
“Just close that door,” Tisch said as security escorted the protesters from the room.