BY ANDY GARDNER

North Country This Week

MASSENA -- The Village of Massena passed a resolution calling on New York state to amend the criminal justice reform enacted this year related to evidence discovery.

It calls for all discovery materials to be turned over from police and prosecutors to the defense within 15 days of the arrest.

The resolution, passed by the Board of Trustees at their Tuesday, Feb. 18 meeting, does not take a stance on bail reform, which ends cash bail for most offenses. That means most defendants are no longer eligible for pre-trial detention. It does note that “cities and villages will not reap savings from the bail reform’s reduction of the burden on county jails.”

Mayor Tim Currier, a former Massena police chief, said he believes the state should have taken more time and talked to more people before passing the discovery reform.

"If this had been gone about in a different way and stakeholders brought to the table and discussed, could have been avoided,” he said. The mayor said he hopes state lawmakers will “bring the stakeholders to the table and tweak this."

One example is a requirement that defendants are arraigned within 20 days of appearance ticket issuance. The resolution notes that this forces small town justice courts, some of which only meet once per month, to meet more frequently.

It also notes the potential for higher costs to local municipalities associated with getting all discovery materials turned over in 15 days. The resolution says the change “will overwhelm the ability of city and village officials and employees to prosecute cases while managing their misdemeanor and felony caseloads, and will make it impossible to prosecute vehicle and traffic and local code infractions and violations in compliance with the new discovery mandates.”

The resolution supports five changes it says are proposed by the New York State Conference of Mayors: “Ensure cities and villages are provided with additional financial and operational support to offset the cost of these mandated measures;” “Allow 60 days for prosecutors to disclose evidence to the defense for criminal charges;” “exclude from the accelerated discovery requirements any charge not involving a misdemeanor or felony;” “adjust the 20-day arraignment requirement to accommodate local courts that meet on a monthly basis;” and “allow prosecutors to withhold sensitive information, such as victim contact information, without having to obtain a court order.”