In response to concerns from constituents and busi- nesses in his district, Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. has co-sponsored legislation to increase penalties for crimes against retail stores, their workers, and to help ease the discovery process for district attorneys which has resulted in far too many dismissed criminal cases.
• S.4448 – Raises Petit Larceny crimes to Grand Larceny when the individual is convicted of Petit Larceny twice in two years.
• S.5479 – Elevates the assault of a retail worker to a Class D Felony in the second degree.
Retail stores have seen an increase in shoplifting incidents adversely affecting their businesses, including higher insurance rates, lost revenue due to theft and customers feeling unsafe to shop, loss of state sales tax revenue, and dangerous confrontations for retail workers.
• S.5885 – Modifies criminal justice law relating to the discovery of material, non-material, and impeachment information and the required timeframe for such discovery. The bill would stagger discovery into three phases to allow District Attorneys time to meet obligations while taking into consideration material or information not in their possession despite diligent efforts.
New York’s 2019 discovery reforms created a substantial workload for district attorneys under tight deadlines. Discoverable information is usually voluminous, duplicative, and difficult to obtain from agencies possessing the materials, causing disclosure delays. This can be particularly problematic with law enforcement disciplinary records or civil proceedings. These tight timelines and difficulty obtaining information often result in the dismissal of cases.
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