Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez last week announced two community-based sessions next week where individuals who have been previously convicted in Brooklyn for a misdemeanor marijuana possession offense will be able to meet with a defense lawyer at no cost and fill out a motion asking to erase that conviction.
The District Attorney’s Office will consent to those motions and will ask a judge to vacate the convictions, representing the first initiative of its kind in New York State.
The program – which is one of the recommendations DA Gonzalez adopted as part of his Justice 2020 Initiative – is in partnership with The Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services, Brooklyn Law School and the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law at New York University School of Law. It also follows Gonzalez’s decision to stop prosecuting all but the most egregious cases involving possession and smoking of small amounts of marijuana.
“This is a unique and groundbreaking opportunity for folks who are burdened by convictions for conduct we no longer prosecute to clear their record and get a fresh start in time for the new year. I encourage every eligible person to attend one of these events, get much-needed relief and help us make a real impact as we work to correct the policies of the past and begin to heal our communities,” said Gonzalez.
Under the new program, those with a past conviction for misdemeanor marijuana possession (PL 221.15, PL 221.10 or PL 221.05) will meet with a defense lawyer, who will counsel them and will fill out the legal documents.
After a review by the DA’s Office, the case will subsequently be called in court, where the DA’s Office will consent to the motion and ask that the conviction be vacated, and the underlying charge dismissed (the Office may oppose motions from individuals with prior convictions for certain violent felonies or sex offenses). Individuals will have the option of waiving their appearance in court if they so choose.
Those seeking to erase their conviction(s) should attend one of these events in person:
- From 5:30 -7:30 p.m., tomorrow, Tuesday, Dec. 11 at the district office of Assembly Member Tremaine Wright, 1360 Fulton Street, Room 417 in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
- from 10 a.m. – 12 noon, Saturday, Dec. 15 at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, 450 Clarkson Avenue in Flatbush.
Participants are only required to bring a form of identification and, if they have, should also bring any paperwork or information regarding their past conviction(s). Additional events are planned for 2019.
Starting in the spring of 2018, the DA gradually expanded his policy of not prosecuting low-level marijuana possession cases to include cases involving smoking in public, which are charged under the same statutes as possession (PL 221.10 and 221.05). The only individuals currently prosecuted for these offenses are those who pose a threat to public safety (e.g. driving with burning marijuana), create a genuine nuisance (e.g. smoking on public transportation or in a schoolyard where children are exposed to smoke) or are involved in violent criminal activity (i.e. “drivers of crime”).
Following the policy change, the number of marijuana possession cases that were accepted for prosecution this year declined from 349 in January to five in October – a drop of 98.5%.
Gonzalez has called for the issuance of civil summonses as a response to low-level marijuana use and possession, as opposed to criminal summonses that make up the current response to most low-level marijuana offenses.
