New York’s amended rules governing evidence in criminal trials, aimed at reducing the number of cases dismissed on procedural grounds, will go into effect Thursday.
The changes reduce the scope of evidence that prosecutors must share with defense attorneys, known as discovery, and limit automatic dismissals based on “insignificant mistakes” in evidence-sharing. But the amendments were a watered-down version from what Gov. Kathy Hochul originally proposed, the result of advocacy from defense attorney groups and civil rights organizations.
