(ALBANY) - The New York State Bar Association has proposed a series of legislative changes aimed at protecting those accused of a crime from being wrongfully convicted in New York state.

At a press conference in Albany, past state bar Presidents Michael Getnick and Bernice Leber were joined by leaders of the Legislature - including Sen. Thomas Duane, Assemblyman Joseph Lentol and other members of the Senate and Assembly - to present six new bills.

The bills are based on the recommendations of the state bar's Task Force on Wrongful Convictions, created in 2008. The task force examined 53 cases in which a defendant was wrongfully convicted of a crime but later exonerated. In a report issued last year, it concluded that wrongful convictions resulted from multiple factors, including identification procedures, government practices, mishandling of forensic evidence, defense practices, the use of false confessions and the improper use of jailhouse informants. The report is available on the state bar's Web site, www.nysba.org/wcreport.

"The impact of a wrongful conviction goes beyond the devastation and harm wrought upon the falsely accused. It destroys families, costs taxpayers exorbitant amounts in legal fees and incarceration expenses, and erodes public confidence in the legal system," Getnick said. "With hopes of reducing the number of wrongful convictions across the state, the association's Task Force on Wrongful Convictions has drafted smart new measures that address these miscarriages of justice. We commend the Senate and Assembly for moving these critical bills forward."

If signed into law, the new bills would put in place a series of safeguards intended to prevent wrongful convictions:

(A11052) (S7842): Procedures to reduce erroneous eyewitness identifications

This bill would amend the Criminal Procedure Law to provide procedures to reduce the occurrence of erroneous eyewitness identifications.

The task force found that such identifications were responsible for more wrongful convictions than any other single factor. Among its key provisions, the bill would require "double blind" lineups and photo arrays in which the person administering the process does not know the identity of the suspect. It also would mandate only one suspect per lineup, require that identification procedures be documented and allow sanctions for failure to comply with mandated procedures.

(A11123) (S7867): Vacating a guilty plea when new
exculpatory DNA evidence is discovered

This bill would amend the Criminal Procedure Law to provide a mechanism by which an individual who has pleaded guilty to a crime could move to vacate the conviction when new DNA evidence is discovered, post-conviction.

Numerous studies have shown that people plead guilty even though they are innocent. Faced with a choice between a guilty plea - and a more-lenient sentence - or the prospect of a much-higher sentence following a guilty verdict after trial, they take what seems like the lesser of two evils.

While New York's current law does not specifically address the availability of post-conviction DNA testing for those who have pled guilty, New York appellate courts have construed the statute as foreclosing DNA testing after a guilty plea. The bill would overturn these decisions and permit courts to order testing when the possibility of a DNA test is discovered, or in cases where new technology for DNA testing is available.

(A11089) (S7873): Issues surrounding
testimony from informants

This bill would amend the Criminal Procedure Law to require that an informant's testimony be corroborated before it can be admitted at trial. It also mandates that juries receive instructions regarding reliability, and that the prosecutor must disclose any benefit received by the informant.

A large percentage of cases in which wrongful convictions have been documented involve testimony from informants - many of whom are facing criminal prosecution or who have received incentives for their testimony.

Studies have found that nearly 50 percent of wrongful murder convictions involve perjury by someone such as a "jailhouse snitch" or a witness who stood to gain from giving false testimony.

(A5213-A) (S7877): Requiring electronic recordings of custodial interrogations

This bill would amend the Criminal Procedure Law to require the creation of an electronic record of an entire custodial interrogation in order to eliminate disputes in court as to what actually occurred during the interrogation. That would improve prosecution of the guilty while affording protection to the innocent. Among other provisions, the bill also requires the prosecutor to retain the electronic recordings beyond trial and appeals until no post-judgment proceedings are pending.

(S7893): Issues surrounding
exculpatory information

S7893 would amend the Criminal Procedure Law to provide definitions of exculpatory information, clarify what information must be delivered, establish the time frame within which it must be delivered and provide for relief where there has been a violation.

The cases studied by the Task Force show that violations are a continuing problem, denying defendants a fair opportunity to organize and present their case. The bill is intended to better assure compliance by the creation of new rules applicable to the delivery of Brady material.

(A11150) (S7868): Compensating those who have been wrongfully convicted

This bill would amend the Court of Claims Act, in relation to claims for having been wrongfully convicted. The purpose is to try to assure that those who have suffered a wrongful conviction receive fair monetary compensation from the state without opening New York to liability for every overturned conviction.

The bills are available online at www.nysba.org/presskit.