STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2072 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 15, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SCARCELLA-SPANTON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to discovery rules and procedures; and repealing certain provisions of such law relating thereto The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of section 245.10 of the 2 criminal procedure law, as added by section 2 of part LLL of chapter 59 3 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows: 4 (c) The prosecution shall disclose statements of the defendant as 5 described in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section 245.20 of this 6 article to any defendant who has been arraigned in a local criminal 7 court upon a currently undisposed of felony complaint charging an 8 offense which is a subject of a prospective or pending grand jury 9 proceeding, no later than [forty-eight] twenty-four hours before the 10 time scheduled for the defendant to testify at a grand jury proceeding 11 pursuant to subdivision five of section 190.50 of this part. 12 § 2. Subdivisions 2 and 6 of section 245.20 of the criminal procedure 13 law, as added by section 2 of part LLL of chapter 59 of the laws of 14 2019, are amended to read as follows: 15 2. Duties of the prosecution. The prosecutor shall make a diligent, 16 good faith effort to ascertain the existence of material or information 17 discoverable under subdivision one of this section and to cause such 18 material or information to be made available for discovery where it 19 exists but is not within the prosecutor's possession, custody or 20 control[; provided] . Material information that requires a subpoena 21 duces tecum in order for the prosecutor [shall not be required] to 22 obtain, and which the defendant may obtain by subpoena duces tecum, 23 shall not be within the scope of automatic discovery for the purposes of 24 subdivision one of this section, and the prosecutor shall not be EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD05772-02-5
S. 2072 2 1 required to obtain such material or information [which the defendant may 2 thereby obtain] before filing a certificate of compliance pursuant to 3 subdivision one of section 245.50 of this article. For purposes of 4 subdivision one of this section, [all items and information related] all 5 materials relevant to the subject matter of the charges against the 6 defendant in the instant case to the prosecution of a charge in the 7 possession of any New York state or local police or law enforcement 8 agency shall be deemed to be in the possession of the prosecution. The 9 prosecution shall also identify any laboratory having contact with 10 evidence related to the prosecution of a charge. This subdivision shall 11 not require the prosecutor to ascertain the existence of witnesses not 12 known to the police or another law enforcement agency, or the written or 13 recorded statements thereof, under paragraph (c) or (e) of subdivision 14 one of this section. 15 6. Redactions permitted. Either party may redact social security 16 numbers [and], tax numbers, witnesses' physical addresses, other forms 17 of witnesses' contact information so long as the people have provided 18 one form of adequate contact information contained in materials 19 disclosed pursuant to paragraph (c) of subdivision one of this section, 20 physical addresses and other forms of contact information for any 21 persons contained in materials disclosed pursuant to paragraph (k) of 22 subdivision one of this section, and information that does not relate to 23 the subject matter of the case from disclosures under this article with- 24 out the need to file a protective order pursuant to section 245.70 of 25 this article. 26 § 3. Subdivisions 1 and 3 of section 245.50 of the criminal procedure 27 law, as amended by section 7 of part HHH of chapter 56 of the laws of 28 2020, are amended and a new subdivision 5 is added to read as follows: 29 1. By the prosecution. When the prosecution, after exercising good 30 faith and due diligence, has provided [the discovery required by] all 31 items and information set forth in subdivision one of section 245.20 of 32 this article that are in the people's actual possession, except for 33 discovery that is lost or destroyed as provided by paragraph (b) of 34 subdivision one of section 245.80 of this article and except for any 35 items or information that are the subject of an order pursuant to 36 section 245.70 of this article, it shall serve upon the defendant and 37 file with the court a certificate of compliance. The certificate of 38 compliance shall state that, after exercising due diligence and making 39 reasonable inquiries to ascertain the existence of material and informa- 40 tion subject to discovery, the prosecutor has disclosed and made avail- 41 able all known material and information subject to discovery that is in 42 the prosecutor's actual possession. It shall also identify the items 43 provided. If the prosecution provides additional discovery [is subse- 44 quently provided] prior to trial pursuant to section 245.60 of this 45 article, a supplemental certificate shall be served upon the defendant 46 and filed with the court identifying the additional material and infor- 47 mation provided. [No adverse consequence to the prosecution or the 48 prosecutor shall result from the] The filing of a supplemental certif- 49 icate of compliance shall not impact the validity of the original 50 certificate of compliance if filed in good faith and [reasonable under 51 the circumstances; but the court may grant a remedy or sanction for a 52 discovery violation as provided in] after exercising due diligence 53 pursuant to section [245.80] 245.20 of this article. Nothing in this 54 subdivision shall preclude the prosecution from continuing the prose- 55 cution's investigation and obtaining and disclosing new discoverable 56 items and information after filing a certificate of compliance.
S. 2072 3 1 3. Trial readiness. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, 2 absent an individualized finding of special circumstances in the instant 3 case by the court before which the charge is pending, the prosecution 4 shall not be deemed ready for trial for purposes of section 30.30 of 5 this chapter until it has filed a proper certificate pursuant to subdi- 6 vision one of this section. [A court may deem the prosecution ready for 7 trial pursuant to section 30.30 of this chapter where information that 8 might be considered discoverable under this article cannot be disclosed 9 because it has been lost, destroyed, or otherwise unavailable as 10 provided by paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section 245.80 of this 11 article, despite diligent and good faith efforts, reasonable under the 12 circumstances. Provided, however, that the court may grant a remedy or 13 sanction for a discovery violation as provided by section 245.80 of this 14 article.] 15 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no 16 adverse consequence to the prosecution or the prosecutor, including the 17 invalidation of a certificate of compliance or statement of readiness, 18 shall result from the filing of a certificate of compliance or a supple- 19 mental certificate of compliance that was made in good faith and is 20 reasonable under the circumstances. Belated or missing disclosures shall 21 be cured by supplemental discovery pursuant to subdivisions one and two 22 of this section. If the party entitled to the belated or missing disclo- 23 sures shows that such party has been prejudiced by such belated or miss- 24 ing disclosure, the court shall grant an appropriate and proportionate 25 remedy statement pursuant to section 245.80 of this article. A certif- 26 icate of compliance or statement of readiness shall be invalidated only 27 upon a showing that no other remedy authorized pursuant to section 28 245.80 of this article can sufficiently cure any prejudice resulting 29 from the belated or missing disclosure. 30 § 4. Subdivision 1-a of section 245.50 of the criminal procedure law 31 is REPEALED. 32 § 5. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 4 of section 245.50 of the criminal 33 procedure law, as added by section 1 of subpart D of part UU of chapter 34 56 of the laws of 2022, is amended and a new paragraph (d) is added to 35 read as follows: 36 (c) Challenges related to the sufficiency of a certificate of compli- 37 ance or supplemental certificates of compliance filed pursuant to subdi- 38 vision one of this section shall be addressed by motion [as soon as 39 practicable, provided that nothing in this section shall be construed to 40 waive a party's right to make further challenges, including but not 41 limited to a motion pursuant to section 30.30] within thirty-five days 42 of [this chapter] the filing of the certificate. Failure to challenge a 43 certificate of compliance or supplemental certificate of compliance 44 within such time period shall constitute a waiver of that challenge; 45 provided, however, that for good cause shows, the court may extend such 46 time period beyond thirty-five days. Good cause includes, but shall not 47 be limited to, voluminous discovery and the complexity of the case. 48 Denial of a motion challenging the sufficiency of a certificate of 49 compliance or supplemental certificate of compliance, or a waiver of 50 such challenge, shall not preclude the imposition of any remedy or sanc- 51 tion authorized pursuant to section 245.80 of this article. 52 (d) A certificate of compliance or supplemental certificate of compli- 53 ance shall not be invalidated where the people rely on a good faith 54 interpretation of the disclosure requirements of this article, and there 55 is no controlling precedent to the contrary from the intermediate appel-
S. 2072 4 1 late court to which an appeal from a judgment of conviction would be had 2 or the New York court of appeals. 3 § 6. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 4 and subdivision 5 of section 30.30 4 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by section 1 of part KKK of 5 chapter 59 of the laws of 2019, are amended to read as follows: 6 (a) a reasonable period of delay resulting from other proceedings 7 concerning the defendant, including but not limited to: proceedings for 8 the determination of competency and the period during which defendant is 9 incompetent to stand trial; demand to produce; request for a bill of 10 particulars; pre-trial motions; appeals; trial of other charges; [and] 11 the period during which such matters are under consideration by the 12 court; and, unless the defendant waives such defendant's right to file a 13 challenge to the people's discovery certificate of compliance pursuant 14 to section 245.50 of this chapter, the period between the filing of the 15 people's certificate of compliance and the court's decision on the 16 defendant's challenge to the certificate of compliance; or 17 5. Whenever pursuant to this section a prosecutor states or otherwise 18 provides notice that the people are ready for trial, the court shall 19 make inquiry on the record as to [their] the people's actual readiness. 20 If, after conducting its inquiry, the court determines that the people 21 are not ready to proceed to trial, the prosecutor's statement or notice 22 of readiness shall not be valid for purposes of this section. Any state- 23 ment of trial readiness must be accompanied or preceded by a certif- 24 ication of good faith compliance with the disclosure requirements of 25 section 245.20 of this chapter and the defense shall be afforded an 26 opportunity to be heard on the record as to whether the disclosure 27 requirements have been met. The court may deem the people not ready for 28 trial if it finds that the people's certificate of compliance was inval- 29 id and the defense shows that it was prejudiced as a result of the 30 people's non-disclosure or belated disclosure of discoverable materials 31 and no other remedy authorized pursuant to section 245.80 of this chap- 32 ter can sufficiently cure such prejudice. This subdivision shall not 33 apply to cases where the defense has waived disclosure requirements. 34 § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.