As a lifelong prosecutor and the former district attorney for Westchester County, I am deeply committed to creating a fair criminal justice system that balances the needs of victims and the rights of those charged with crimes.
As DA, I worked hard to modernize how Westchester approaches individuals charged with crimes, giving them second chances when the circumstances warranted, through new and expanded diversion programs, establishing a restorative justice program and a new Conviction Review Unit, to name a few examples.
As a prosecutor and someone whose family suffered horrendous violent crime, I have been equally focused on protecting crime victims and have worked throughout my career with victim service providers.
In short, I understand the importance of a fair system of justice and public service accountability which is why I believe the 2019 discovery reforms were essential — but I also know that slight modifications are necessary to ensure that the intended reforms do not continue to inadvertently further harm victims.
I join my former DA colleagues across the state — in addition to victim advocate groups, clergy leaders, and many members of the state’s federal delegation — in strongly supporting the proposed changes to those laws. I urge the Legislature: do not continue to stand in the way of these essential changes. Victims deserve justice.
At the heart of the Gov. Hochul’s proposal is a common-sense adjustment: if a prosecutor does not turn over a piece of evidence that should have been turned over, the consequence should be proportionate to the significance of the missing evidence. That may sound obvious, but under the current framework, instead of proportionate consequences for any missing evidence, cases are very often dismissed outright, leaving victims without justice and undermining the accountability that is essential to fostering public safety.
Here is how the current system works: There is a clock running on the prosecutor, meaning that they must provide all required evidence and state that they are ready for trial within a certain number of days. This is often referred to as the “speedy trial clock.” When the prosecution provides the evidence and states they are ready for trial, the clock stops.
If later, the defense challenges the completeness of discovery and something is found to be missing, the days between when the prosecution said they were ready and the challenge are retroactively counted against the prosecutorial clock, very often resulting in an automatic dismissal for exceeding the number of allowable days.
This causes a clear problem: the judge is not able to consider the severity of the missing evidence. Even if the missing evidence is insignificant or duplicative, the prosecutor’s prior statement of readiness is invalidated, the clock is considered to have never stopped, and in many cases has by then run out, and the case is dismissed.
As a result, cases — even ones involving physical harm to victims — are often dismissed for small mistakes unrelated to the merits of the case. In New York City alone, there were 20,000 more cases dismissed in 2024 compared to 2019. This is deeply unfair and heartbreaking to victims, including victims of domestic violence, who have courageously engaged with the system to seek justice.
The governor is proposing, instead, that if a piece of evidence is found to be missing, that the consequences reflect the severity of the missing evidence’s significance. This is a common sense approach that balances the rights of those charged with the rights of victims. That is the standard in every other state and federal criminal system in the United States. It should also be the standard here in New York.
Opponents argue that the governor’s proposal decouples the discovery process from the speedy trial clock. That is not accurate. Just as is the case currently, if the prosecutor does not file a certificate of compliance, they cannot state that they are ready, cannot stop the speedy trial clock, and the case will be dismissed.
By keeping discovery tied to the speedy trial clock, the governor’s proposal preserves the integrity of the 2019 reforms, but will not take us back to pre-2019. Instead, the proposal makes logical tweaks to ensure proportionate consequences for incomplete discovery. The proposal is narrow, pragmatic, and thoughtful, and I urge the Legislature to include it as part of the budget.
Today caps off National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, but we must stand with crime victims every day of the year. While the rights of the accused are a fundamental cornerstone of our criminal justice system, our elected officials must remember that they not just represent defendants — they also represent victims.
Rocah was Westchester County district attorney from 2022-2025.
