City Police Chief Supports Discovery Reforms in State Budget Agreement

One of the key provisions of the conceptual budget agreement reached by Governor Kathy Hochul and state legislative leaders this week is discovery law reform, which had been one of the primary sticking points in discussions. A local law enforcement official says he supports the changes that Hochul has been pushing for. Dunkirk Police Chief Chris Witkowski says the key changes involve protecting witness information and moving away from dismissing cases due to minor technicalities...

Chris Witkowski: key amendments to the discovery law

Witkowski, who was a guest on WDOE's "Viewpoint" program on Tuesday, says a lot of victims were not pursuing charges because they were concerned for their safety. Regarding compliance errors, he says there were "pieces of paper that meant absolutely nothing" to cases, but were coming into question. As a result, such cases were being dismissed...

Chris Witkowski: pendulum is swinging back in favor of victims

The conceptual budget agreement includes $120 million in funding for discovery law compliance for prosecutors and defense attorneys.

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