Organizing on behalf of those wrongfully convicted by our criminal injustice system
NEW YORK STATE COMPENSATION FOR THE WRONGFULLY CONVICTED
According to New York State law, if a wrongfully convicted person “did not by his own conduct cause or bring about his conviction” and files a claim within two years of his pardon of innocence, he shall receive “damages in such sum of money as the court determines will fairly and reasonably compensate him.”
➢ What We Want:
• Time to file ext
ended from two to three years.
• Compensation for those wrongfully detained/arrested.
• Minimum monetary compensation: $1,000,000 for each year incarcerated, $5,000,000 for each pro-rated year in solitary, and $100,000 for each year on probation/parole.
• Additional compensation for lost wages and reimbursement for legal fees and medical expenses, including therapy.
• Full medical insurance coverage, on a par with the state employees’ insurance policy.
• Reimbursement of tuition for the claimant and any of the claimant’s children at a State University or College; if the wrongful conviction stemmed from a municipality, the claimant may also be reimbursed for attending the City University or a City College, such as CUNY.
• Reimbursement for vocational programs and/or job skills programs.
• Reimbursement of any child-support arrears that accrued, including, reimbursement to the custodial parent of the amount s/he was receiving prior to the incarceration if it was modified by virtue of the claimant’s incarceration.
• Access to the Homes for Veterans Program, which offers fixed-rate mortgages with interest rates 0.5% below the interest rates charged on SONYMA mortgages, with closing cost assistance.
• A ten-point additional credit preference toward an original appointment for disabled wartime veterans; five points for wartime service; and two and a half points for competitive promotional exams.
• Veterans made eligible for appointment to non-competitive State employment positions under Sections 55-b and 55-c of the New York State Civil Service Law.
• Partial exemption from real property taxes based on condition of service, with additional benefits based upon the degree of service-connected disability.
• The right to assigned counsel to pursue the compensation claim, with counsel able to present an application for additional compensation.
• All of these awards to be non-taxable.
• The right to appeal if unsatisfied with any portion of the award. NEW YORK DNA ACCESS LAW
At present, any defendant convicted after trial may apply for post-conviction DNA testing at any time after the entry of a judgment in the case; defendants convicted after a plea for certain felonies must meet additional criteria to be eligible to apply for testing.
➢ What We Want:
• Expansion of the law to cover those who plead guilty, with no heightened pleading requirement or limitation on categories of offenses for which DNA testing is available.
• Expansion of the law to cover those civilly committed or on a sex-offender registry. LAW REQUIRING RECORDED INTERROGATIONS
There is no state law requiring recorded interrogations.
➢ What We Want:
• Recording to apply to all interrogations and interactions, whether or not they occur at a detention facility or police station
• Audio to be used outside of a detention facility or police station if video is unavailable.
• The presumption of inadmissibility of any statement obtained in an unrecorded interrogation or other interaction.
• Both criminal prosecution and administrative discipline for officers who violate these rules. LAW REQUIRING PRESERVATION OF EVIDENCE
There is no state law requiring preservation of evidence.
➢ What We Want:
• Biological samples shall be preserved for the entire period of time that a crime is unsolved.
• Defendants may request and receive inventory of all biological evidence on file regarding their cases.
• Evidence that was improperly destroyed shall be considered a Rosario violation, allowing the Court to impose sanctions up to and including dismissal of the case.
• Both criminal prosecution and administrative discipline for officers who violate these rules. NEW YORK LAW REGARDING EYEWITNESS IDENTIFICATION
There is no statewide eyewitness identification reform policy.
➢ What We Want:
• Police to compile a complete description of a suspect prior to a lineup or photo array.
• All lineups and photo arrays shall be conducted in a double-blind fashion: the administrator of the lineup or photo array must not know who the suspect is.
• Eyewitnesses shall be instructed that the perpetrator of the crime may or may not be present in a lineup or included in a photo array—that the administrator does not have this information—and that they should not feel compelled to make an identification, as the investigation will continue regardless of whether they can make a positive identification or not.
• Fillers shall reasonably resemble the suspect.
• If there are multiple eyewitnesses, they shall view a lineup or photo array separately.
• Nothing shall otherwise make one person stand out from the group in the lineup, to the degree that if one person is made to speak, make a gesture, etc., all the persons in the lineup must say the same words or make the same gesture.
• Both instructions to eyewitnesses and the lineup or photo array must be recorded in their entirety.
• If an eyewitness makes a positive identification, s/he will be made to complete a confidence sheet.
• “Show-up” identifications—those made shortly after the commission of a crime in the same place or the near vicinity of where it was perpetrated—shall only be performed in exigent circumstances, which shall be documented; they are otherwise banned as a general method of eyewitness identification.
• Prior to a show-up, eyewitnesses shall be required to fill out complete description forms.
• Absent exigent circumstances, which shall be documented, the suspect shall not be in a police vehicle and shall not be handcuffed.
• If there are multiple eyewitnesses, they shall all make separate identifications.
• If there are multiple suspects, there shall be a separate identification procedure for each of them.
• Presumption of inadmissibility if these rules are not followed.
• Both criminal prosecution and administrative discipline for officers who violate these rules. Action Plan for Criminal Justice Reform
LAW REGARDING JAILHOUSE INFORMANTS
There is no New York State law regarding jailhouse informants.
➢ What We Want:
• The statements of jailhouse informants shall be videotaped.
• The prosecution must disclose the criminal background of the informant, any deals made in exchange for the informant’s statements, the time and place of the initial statement and the identity of the person to whom it was made, whether any modifications of the initial statement were made when the formal statement was given, and any other case in which the informant testified or served as an informant.
• Presumption of inadmissibility if these rules are not followed.
• Both criminal prosecution and administrative discipline for officers who violate these rules. NEW YORK CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM COMMISSION
In 2009, New York State’s highest jurist, Court of Appeals Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, created the Justice Task Force. The Justice Task Force will analyze the causes of wrongful convictions and recommend changes to police and court procedures, as well as training for lawyers, jurists, and police to prevent these types of injustices in the future. Composed of prosecutors, defense lawyers, scientists, and lawmakers, it is the first permanent judicially created task force in the United States. The Justice Task Force will also consistently monitor the implementation of those reforms intended to prevent wrongful conviction, through data-driven reviews of policy changes over time.
➢ What We Want:
• Community-headed Boards with the power to hire and fire officers and their supervisors, as well as, to discipline officers who engage in misconduct.
