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NY Drunk Drivers Get Free Pass on Jail Time Due to New “Discovery” Law; Cases Thrown Out of Court
Edited by: TJVNews.com
With warnings constantly given on television and social media about the dangers of driving while intoxicated and the stiff legal penalties involved if one is apprehended, it would appear that such penalties for getting behind the wheel while inebriated in New York is not being taken seriously at all.
According to a Post report, nearly half of all drinking-and-driving offenses in Manhattan were tossed out of court last year, records show, as dismissal rates significantly increased to the tune of five times higher than they were prior to state lawmakers enacting a controversial evidence reform law in 2020.
Under the aegis of the office of prosecutors under the leadership of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, in 2022, 128, or 49% of the 262 driving while intoxicated cases that they were handling were dismissed in court on technicalities or for other reasons, the Post reported.
Under Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance, Jr, , the Post reported that the Manhattan prosecutors’ office handled more than double the amount of DWI and other drunk-driving cases and in 2019, only 55 — or 9% — of the 589 cased were dismissed in court.
The shocking statistics on those walking away scott-free while operating a vehicle after testing that they were above the legal alcohol limit has critics assigning blame to the new “discovery” law. The Post reported that the law is overwhelming the criminal justice system in New York. Even Bragg, who is super soft on crime and some say even “pro-criminal” has conceded that in terms of successfully prosecuting traffic offenses, this law creates big problems.
Speaking to the Post, Bragg said, “This data makes clear that discovery is burying our prosecutors in paperwork that is often unrelated to the underlying substance of the case.”
Prosecutors are now required to turn over all evidence related to alleged felonies and misdemeanors within just 15 days of arraignments for traffic infractions and other petty offenses, and within 20 to 35 days for many other crimes. The Post reported. Previously, state law only required discovery if the defense requested it in writing, and there was no rigid time frame, the report added.
According to records and multiple law-enforcement sources, as it pertains to the five boroughs of New York City, the new law and rules have caused havoc concerning DWI charges and other prosecution measures taken against traffic offenders, the Post reported.
In an effort to avoid the court’s dismissal of such offenses, the Post reported that some prosecutors said that they’re offering plea deals at unprecedented levels. In Manhattan, the dismissal rate for all traffic offenses rose from 18% in 2019 to 44% the following year, when the new discovery requirements went into effect.
In addition to the number of cases thrown out of court in Manhattan, the Post reported that 31% of all traffic offenses in Queens were dismissed by the court last year as compared to 17% in 2019, while the traffic-felony dismissal rate surged ninefold over the same period, from 2% to 18%.
On Staten Island, 263 traffic cases have been thrown out of court since 2019, as the overall dismissal rate there has remained steady over that period at about 3% to 4, the Post reported.
The Post report points to the fact that due to the new discovery law, the families of those seriously hurt or killed by inebriated drivers are of the belief that they prevent true justice from being meted out.
In December 2020, a 63-year old man, Taher Ali Hassan, was killed by a driver on the Belt Parkway in Queens who was traveling at nearly double the speed limit while under the influence of cocaine and alcohol. Hassan’s son, Mohammed told the Post that his family “didn’t see the full justice it was expecting” because of the new discovery law.
Instead, Jason Bical of Brooklyn copped a plea deal with Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz’s office, the Post reported, and was sentenced in December to 5 to 15 years in jail on an aggravated vehicular manslaughter conviction in the death of the Ali Hassan.
Praising the diligent work of prosecutors, Mohamed Hassan told the paper, “Action must be taken to prevent all this from happening, or at a bare minimum, to put laws where they were, which was then much easier for prosecutors to act.”
He added that, “They’re handcuffed by the new laws, and to them, it makes them not want to do these types of cases.”
According to Richmond County District Attorney Michael McMahon’s office, the Post reported that they said the new regulations have put their prosecutors in a position where they are forced to cajole drivers who were apprehended for traffic offenses and drunk driving to cop pleas to reduced crimes in order to avoid having cases thrown out of court altogether.
McMahon, a moderate Democrat, told The Post he’s “tremendously proud” of his office’s “low” dismissal rate, but believes the discovery law needs a complete overhaul.
“My dedicated prosecutors are successful despite the crazy and nonsensical discovery burdens placed on us by Albany,” he told the Post. “Without question, it has made the work of holding these offenders fully accountable more challenging and unless necessary changes are made, will soon border on impossible. I guess that is what our Albany leaders want: mayhem and death on the roads, crime, and chaos on every corner, and complete freedom for the career criminals. They should be careful what they wish for. If not for heroic cops and persistent prosecutors, they will get it,” he added.
