Last 23 May, Comptroller Brad Lander announced a settlement awarding $7 million to a man who sued the New York City, after spending 23 years in prison for a wrongful conviction.
Grant Williams was sentenced for a murdered at 1996 on Staten Island and exonerated at 2021. Later, he filed a lawsuit alleging police misconduct and violation of his civil rights.
Tuesday night, the state Assembly took a major step to give wrongfully convicted New Yorkers like Williams a chance to prove his innocence by passing the Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act.
This legislation, sponsored by Senator Zellnor Myrie and Assemblyman Dan Quart, makes critical improvements to New York State’s existing post-conviction relief framework that only allows convicted persons to apply to the court for post-conviction relief if DNA evidence emerges.
Among other things, this bill eliminates plea bargains on claims of innocence when there is credible new evidence, grants a right to findings in the post-trial process conviction and establishes the right to an attorney for those with wrongful conviction claims.
New York is one of only five US states that does not provide the right to an attorney in post-conviction cases, on a par with Texas and Alabama.
“By eliminating procedural barriers and enshrining in law the right to a hearing and a lawyer in cases after conviction, we can ensure that there is a path to exoneration,” said Assemblyman Quart.
In New York and across the country, many innocent people plead guilty because they were coerced, they don’t believe that they can win at trial or face incredibly harsh penalties. 98% of convictions in New York are the result of guilty pleas. According to the National Registry of Exonerations (NRE), more than one in five of the more than 3,000 people who have been exonerated since 1989 pleaded guilty despite their innocence. In the last 33 years, 331 people have been exonerated in the state.
For his part, Senator Myrie stated that wrongful convictions are an affront to justice and harm the cause of public safety.
“Our laws must make it easier for innocent people to challenge their convictions in court,” said the legislator.
The Wrongful Sentencing Challenge Act, now moving to the state Senate for approval, has had the support of groups such as the Innocence Project, VOCAL-NY, and New York County Defender Services.
For Rebecca Brown, policy director of the Innocence Project, it is inconceivable that truly innocent people are forced to languish behind bars simply because they plead guilty
2021
“New York has the third highest number of disclosed wrongful convictions in the nation. However, current New York law makes it impossible for innocent people who plead guilty and do not have the benefit of DNA evidence to challenge their convictions in court. This prevents people with credible claims of innocence from obtaining redress in court,” Brown said.
“This bill, if it becomes law, will finally provide a chance for justice” , he claimed.