Why Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act is back in front of state lawmakers

A bill overturning case law preventing innocent New Yorkers from challenging their guilty pleas with non-DNA evidence resurfaced in the state legislature May 19. Lawmakers originally passed the Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act back in 2023 but Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed the legislation in the 11th hour.

“How could we accept a system that allowed innocent people to spend a single minute in our prisons?” said lead sponsor State Sen. Zellnor Myrie. “But that is the system that exists here in New York. We got to do something about this, and that is why I have been proud under the leadership of people who have been impacted to sponsor the Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act. We passed this bill, we sent it to the governor’s desk, and she vetoed it.

“We went back to the drawing board. We said we will accommodate the concerns, we will add, we will subtract, and here we are, three years later, prepared to finally do justice for New Yorkers right now, so we cannot wait any longer.”

About 97% of New York’s felony convictions stem from guilty pleas. Yet, a 2018 ruling in the state’s highest court prevented nurse Natascha Tiger from challenging a 2012 plea bargain, for which she spent months in jail, after new non-DNA evidence from a civil case showed no crime ever occurred. The bill would overturn the legal precedent established in People v. Tiger.

“In 2018, there was a New York Court of Appeals case, People v. Tiger that created this insurmountable obstacle for many people who are convicted,” said lead State Assembly sponsor Latrice Walker. “The court ruled that if someone pleads guilty to a crime, it bars them from challenging the conviction unless they can produce newly discovered DNA evidence. This is a staggering hurdle, since 97% of felony convictions and 99% of misdemeanor convictions in New York are solved through guilty pleas and DNA is only relevant in only a small fraction of these cases.”

The amended bill would still overturn the case law, as well as expand access to evidence and legal representation in credible post-conviction cases. Advocates say the new version was redrafted following conversations with concerned skeptics and opponents, who feared the legislation could open “floodgates” in the legal system.

Currently, the main recourse for proving one’s innocence in a guilty plea goes through the local prosecutor. Prosecutor’s offices across the state boast conviction integrity units, which review and push innocence claims from cases they once prosecuted.

For example, Steve Lopez pleaded out to a lower charge to avoid the Central Park Jogger trial, arguably the most well-known wrongful conviction case in American history. But while the courts vacated the convictions of his co-defendants, known then as the Central Park Five, his guilty plea was not cleared until 2022 with the help of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Even before the Tiger ruling, Lopez struggled to find legal representation. And the DNA evidence used to exonerate his co-defendants and prove that serial rapist Matias Reyes raped Central Park jogger Trisha Meili could not be used as evidence for the lower conviction he pleaded out to.

Back in 2022, VOCAL-NY’s Roger Clark and Families and Friends of the Wrongfully Convicted co-founder Derrick Hamilton co-authored a Times Union op-ed about challenging their own convictions. Today, both remain heavily involved in the bill and spoke to the AmNews this week with renewed confidence.

“Back in 2023 it passed both houses,” said Clark. “However, the governor vetoed the bill, which was heartbreaking and extremely cruel. It has been a heart-wrenching moment, especially for those who are still incarcerated and are looking to have to get an avenue to get a fair chance to go to court.”

“This bill will give these people recourses,” added Hamilton. “The ability to get to court to present the evidence of innocence and be exonerated like they should be.”

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