“What do you have to lose?” Judge Albert Lorenzo inquired of the prosecutors.
In May 2022, I found myself back in a Bronx courthouse after serving 15 years of a 50-year-to-life sentence for murder and attempted murder. I had filed a motion under a well-known but seldom-used law that mandates state prosecutors to disclose favorable evidence to defendants. This law is typically invoked during the post-conviction stage to access evidence. My motion asked Judge Lorenzo to unseal the criminal records of the prosecution’s eyewitness, thereby settling a longstanding dispute in my case. I had previously lost this argument five times, but if proven, it would completely dismantle the prosecutor’s case against me.
During my trial 11 years ago, we presented medical records as evidence to argue that the sole eyewitness had a motive to lie. He had implicated me while under arrest. The prosecutor, however, claimed that the witness was merely being protected as a witness and was not under detainment. Consequently, the trial judge refused to allow us to question the witness about this matter in front of the jury.
Approximately a year later, I obtained documents through a request made under the Freedom of Information Law. These documents revealed that the witness was indeed under arrest on an outstanding warrant at the time in question. Armed with this new evidence, I filed a pro se motion (meaning I had no lawyer) requesting a new trial. I argued that the witness had lied when he claimed he wasn’t under arrest when he pointed me out to the police. As the arrest record was sealed, the prosecution challenged the authenticity of those documents and submitted an updated rap sheet to the court, which omitted any mention of the arrest. Consequently, Judge Lorenzo had the authority to dismiss my motion outright.
Presently, the Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act is awaiting the signature of Gov. Kathy Hochul. This act aims to ensure that cases like mine are resolved justly. It allows for the appointment of legal representation and post-conviction access to evidence for applicants who present “colorable claims” to the court. However, it does not guarantee a lawyer or the right to discovery; it is up to the judge to determine the merit of these claims. Nonetheless, I do wish I had this avenue available to me.
Prosecutors are adamant about pressuring Gov. Hochul to veto the bill. In an opinion piece for the New York Daily News, Hannah Meyer, a former prosecutor and the director of the policing and public safety initiative at the conservative think tank, the Manhattan Institute, wrote, “In this climate of intensifying fear [of crime], the Legislature has passed a bill that… will kneecap the very agencies responsible for representing New Yorkers against criminals: district attorneys.”
The true public safety concern is having an innocent person imprisoned while the actual perpetrators roam free to commit more crimes. Additionally, according to the National Registry of Exonerations’ 2021 report, over 60 percent of the 161 exonerations that year involved official misconduct. This is not merely a public safety issue but rather a political and systemic one.
It is also an expensive problem. Settlements awarded to the wrongfully convicted drain millions of dollars from state and municipal funds.
In my specific case, lawyers from the NYPD located the bench warrant for the witness in my files but refused to disclose it due to the sealed nature of his arrest record. In May, the prosecutor argued to Judge Lorenzo that this issue had already been litigated and that there was no procedure mandating the pursuit of old evidence. The Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act aims to address these procedural obstacles. The truth is, most post-conviction motions are resolved on procedural grounds rather than on the merits of the case. However, Judge Lorenzo recognized the merit in my motion and decided to unseal the witness’s records.
I pray that Gov. Hochul possesses the moral fortitude to sign the bill in the face of political pressure. Defendants should not have to spend years navigating the legal system, hoping for a judge who is willing to examine the merits of their case. There should be legislation that prioritizes evidence as the determining factor, rather than arbitrary rules that allow prosecutors to win based on technicalities.
In my situation, the records conclusively proved that the witness was under arrest and was released from custody the day after providing grand jury testimony against me. This evidence demonstrates that both the witness and the prosecutors lied during the trial. It took me 16 years to uncover the truth, but soon I will have my day in court. This bill will help future individuals in similar situations obtain the assistance that I wish I had.
Perhaps what prosecutors fear losing is their ability to wrongfully convict people.
Joseph Sanchez is a husband, father, and student at St. Thomas Aquinas College. He is currently in his 16th year of incarceration at Sullivan Correctional Facility.
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