People v. Jawad

The NYCLU filed an amicus brief in a case before the New York Court of Appeals arguing that the prosecution has a duty to turn over police misconduct records in criminal discovery. When the New York Legislature passed discovery reform laws and repealed Section 50-a, they did so in response to the death of Kalief Browder and in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, with the explicit intent to make police disciplinary records available to the defense and the public.

The NYCLU’s brief in People v. Jawad, which is one of the first cases to consider the scope of discovery in criminal cases post-discovery reform, argues that the prosecution is required to turn over police disciplinary records to defense counsel under New York’s discovery reform law, CPL 245.20.