DA profoundly disappointed with “radical” criminal justice reforms
(Photo by Zachary Meseck)
CHENANGO COUNTY – On the same day that New York State’s criminal justice reforms went into effect, local law enforcement and the Chenango County District Attorney’s Office were forced to cope with the reality of the new laws.
According to Chenango County District Attorney Michael Ferrarese, while there was a meaningful criminal justice reform that could have been passed, what was implemented in New York State on January 1 was radical and dangerous for law abiding citizens.
“It is a very different approach then what we as prosecutors were able to do under the old criminal justice laws, and in plain terms it will take longer for an arrest to happen,” said the DA.
Ferrarese said an example of what will happen because of these reforms could be seen in the delayed arrest of suspects in an incident that occurred Wednesday night in the City of Norwich.
Norwich Police Department Detective Sergeant Reuben Roach said the incident occurred at approximately 10 p.m. on New Year's Day.
Police said three suspects were stopped after a caller reported a vehicle driving around the City of Norwich with people shooting a pellet gun out the vehicle's windows at pedestrians. Police said they discovered a CO2-based pellet gun and drugs.
Roach said during the stop police found meth and cocaine that were packaged for sale. He said the amount discovered could warrant multiple high level felony charges.
The suspects were not identified publicly. They were released and have not been charged with a crime.
“In compliance with the new laws that took effect as of January 1, no criminal charges were filed at that time,” said Roach. “We’re hoping that charges will be filed in the future once the New York State Police Crime Lab can return the results.”
Ferrarese spoke on the incident and said because of the new laws, law enforcement needed to send the drugs out to be tested, and wait on the results to return before making any arrest.
The DA said the suspects had enough drugs to be charged with high level felonies. He said based on the average wait time, it will take approximately three to six months for the results to return.
“We were unable to bring an offense that would have qualified as a bailable offense against individuals with criminal histories, who have allegedly been found to be possessing A [class felony] weight methamphetamine and B [class felony] weights of cocaine because we have to send the controlled substance and narcotic drugs to the lab and await those results,” he said. “That is very problematic, and clearly poses a danger to the citizens of Chenango County that are law abiding and that want a safe environment to live and reside in.”
As part of a statement from Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Office, they define New York State’s new criminal justice reform laws as, “…groundbreaking legislation in the FY 2020 Enacted Budget,” and said “New York's bail system will be dramatically transformed, significantly reducing the number of people held in jail prior to their trial.”
“Specifically, cash bail will be eliminated for misdemeanors and non-violent felonies, alongside a new requirement that police officers must issue desk appearance tickets to most people charged with misdemeanors and Class E felonies, rather than making a custodial arrest,” the office adds. “Together, these reforms will ensure the vast majority - approximately 90 percent - of cases where people are charged, but not yet convicted of a crime, will remain out of jail before their day in court.”
However, Ferrarese said the constraints placed on law enforcement, prosecutors, and the courts make upholding justice in all cases a nearly insurmountable task.
“I believe that if the legislature really had care and concern about principals [defendants] as well as keeping the citizens of New York safe, they would have had meaningful floor debates on criminal justice reform, and they would have listened and allowed participation from stakeholders such as the judiciary, the district attorney’s association for the State of New York, and other law enforcement organizations throughout the state,” said Ferrarese. “That did not occur in this case, and so only one side was heard - the representatives of principals.”
“The law was written to skew everything in a principal’s [defendant's] favor; thus creating a much more dangerous society for all law abiding citizens in New York State,” he said.
He said as a result of the reforms no drug offenses are bailable besides the charge of major drug trafficking, which he said has never been charged in the history of Chenango County.
He added that another aspect of the criminal justice reforms include a requirement to complete the discovery process within 15 days of the filing of an accusatory instrument.
“The process is going to become more critical than ever because with the enactment of the reforms; our ability to announce that we are ready to proceed to trial cannot be done until after we’ve received the results of whichever evidence needed to be tested,” said Ferrarese. “In other words, the results of the tests must come back before we can announce that we are ready to proceed to trial.”
Ferrarese said while similar criminal justice reforms have been implemented in two other states including California and New Jersey, those states included a provision for judges to address the danger to the community factor.
“That’s something that New York State hasn’t provided to our judiciary, and the other programs they’ve implied aren’t funded by the state,” he added. “When they passed this legislation, they passed something else that allows a principal to be enrolled in a pre-trial program; however they didn’t provide any funding for each individual county to actually enact a pretrial services program.”
“Without the money, you can’t have programs like electronic monitoring or centralized booking, and right now Chenango County doesn’t have these things.”
He said in essence, the lack of available funding for programs and the strict new laws implemented by the state makes it much more difficult to ensure court appearances.
Ferrarese said to help the district attorney’s office deal with the overwhelming workload, the Chenango County Board of Supervisors has provided enough funds for an additional assistant district attorney and secretary.
He said the DA’s office will continue to do everything they can to ensure justice is upheld in Chenango County, but that new reforms act as an obstacle to overcome rather than legislation to ensure justice is done.
“When our legislature and governor act irresponsibly by allowing a poorly worded law to be passed, the ramifications are to such an extent that law abiding citizens in New York State begin to question whether or not they should continue to reside here versus other states where their rights will be protected,” he said.
According to Chenango County District Attorney Michael Ferrarese, while there was a meaningful criminal justice reform that could have been passed, what was implemented in New York State on January 1 was radical and dangerous for law abiding citizens.
“It is a very different approach then what we as prosecutors were able to do under the old criminal justice laws, and in plain terms it will take longer for an arrest to happen,” said the DA.
Ferrarese said an example of what will happen because of these reforms could be seen in the delayed arrest of suspects in an incident that occurred Wednesday night in the City of Norwich.
Norwich Police Department Detective Sergeant Reuben Roach said the incident occurred at approximately 10 p.m. on New Year's Day.
Police said three suspects were stopped after a caller reported a vehicle driving around the City of Norwich with people shooting a pellet gun out the vehicle's windows at pedestrians. Police said they discovered a CO2-based pellet gun and drugs.
Roach said during the stop police found meth and cocaine that were packaged for sale. He said the amount discovered could warrant multiple high level felony charges.
The suspects were not identified publicly. They were released and have not been charged with a crime.
“In compliance with the new laws that took effect as of January 1, no criminal charges were filed at that time,” said Roach. “We’re hoping that charges will be filed in the future once the New York State Police Crime Lab can return the results.”
Ferrarese spoke on the incident and said because of the new laws, law enforcement needed to send the drugs out to be tested, and wait on the results to return before making any arrest.
The DA said the suspects had enough drugs to be charged with high level felonies. He said based on the average wait time, it will take approximately three to six months for the results to return.
“We were unable to bring an offense that would have qualified as a bailable offense against individuals with criminal histories, who have allegedly been found to be possessing A [class felony] weight methamphetamine and B [class felony] weights of cocaine because we have to send the controlled substance and narcotic drugs to the lab and await those results,” he said. “That is very problematic, and clearly poses a danger to the citizens of Chenango County that are law abiding and that want a safe environment to live and reside in.”
As part of a statement from Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Office, they define New York State’s new criminal justice reform laws as, “…groundbreaking legislation in the FY 2020 Enacted Budget,” and said “New York's bail system will be dramatically transformed, significantly reducing the number of people held in jail prior to their trial.”
“Specifically, cash bail will be eliminated for misdemeanors and non-violent felonies, alongside a new requirement that police officers must issue desk appearance tickets to most people charged with misdemeanors and Class E felonies, rather than making a custodial arrest,” the office adds. “Together, these reforms will ensure the vast majority - approximately 90 percent - of cases where people are charged, but not yet convicted of a crime, will remain out of jail before their day in court.”
However, Ferrarese said the constraints placed on law enforcement, prosecutors, and the courts make upholding justice in all cases a nearly insurmountable task.
“I believe that if the legislature really had care and concern about principals [defendants] as well as keeping the citizens of New York safe, they would have had meaningful floor debates on criminal justice reform, and they would have listened and allowed participation from stakeholders such as the judiciary, the district attorney’s association for the State of New York, and other law enforcement organizations throughout the state,” said Ferrarese. “That did not occur in this case, and so only one side was heard - the representatives of principals.”
“The law was written to skew everything in a principal’s [defendant's] favor; thus creating a much more dangerous society for all law abiding citizens in New York State,” he said.
He said as a result of the reforms no drug offenses are bailable besides the charge of major drug trafficking, which he said has never been charged in the history of Chenango County.
He added that another aspect of the criminal justice reforms include a requirement to complete the discovery process within 15 days of the filing of an accusatory instrument.
“The process is going to become more critical than ever because with the enactment of the reforms; our ability to announce that we are ready to proceed to trial cannot be done until after we’ve received the results of whichever evidence needed to be tested,” said Ferrarese. “In other words, the results of the tests must come back before we can announce that we are ready to proceed to trial.”
Ferrarese said while similar criminal justice reforms have been implemented in two other states including California and New Jersey, those states included a provision for judges to address the danger to the community factor.
“That’s something that New York State hasn’t provided to our judiciary, and the other programs they’ve implied aren’t funded by the state,” he added. “When they passed this legislation, they passed something else that allows a principal to be enrolled in a pre-trial program; however they didn’t provide any funding for each individual county to actually enact a pretrial services program.”
“Without the money, you can’t have programs like electronic monitoring or centralized booking, and right now Chenango County doesn’t have these things.”
He said in essence, the lack of available funding for programs and the strict new laws implemented by the state makes it much more difficult to ensure court appearances.
Ferrarese said to help the district attorney’s office deal with the overwhelming workload, the Chenango County Board of Supervisors has provided enough funds for an additional assistant district attorney and secretary.
He said the DA’s office will continue to do everything they can to ensure justice is upheld in Chenango County, but that new reforms act as an obstacle to overcome rather than legislation to ensure justice is done.
“When our legislature and governor act irresponsibly by allowing a poorly worded law to be passed, the ramifications are to such an extent that law abiding citizens in New York State begin to question whether or not they should continue to reside here versus other states where their rights will be protected,” he said.
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