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Hochul vetoes bill to expand reasons convictions could be overturned

Dec 26, 2023 12:21 am

New York State of Politics reports that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed a bill on Dec. 23 that would have made it easier for people who have pleaded guilty to crimes to challenge their convictions. Criminal justice reformers were upset with the veto that was favored by many prosecutors. Hochul said the bill's "sweeping expansion of eligibility for post-conviction relief" would "up-end the judicial system and create an unjustifiable risk of flooding the courts with frivolous claims." Currently, criminal defendants who plead guilty are barred from trying to get their cases reopened based on a new claim of innocence, unless there is new DNA evidence. The bill would have allowed video footage or evidence of someone else confessing to a crime, or arguments that a person was coerced into a false guilty plea. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.