A bill that would close a loophole in New York's criminal procedure law that prohibits jury trials for low-level charges in New York City, but not the rest of the state, cleared a major hurdle this week when it passed the Codes Committee in the state Senate.

The legislation was inspired by last year's decision by the Court of Appeals in People v. Suazo, which ruled that defendants charged with low-level misdemeanors in New York City should still be afforded a trial by jury if they're at risk of being deported as a result of their conviction.

That right is already guaranteed to defendants regardless of immigration status outside New York City. State Sen. Brad Hoylman, D-Manhattan, who sponsors the legislation, said that disparity is unfair for defendants within the five boroughs.

“I think my colleagues recognize that it is unfair that if you're charged with a misdemeanor that carries six months or less in New York City you're not entitled to a jury trial, but if you're charged with that outside of New York City, you do get one,” Hoylman said.

Current law prohibits a trial by jury for defendants in New York City charged with a crime that would carry a maximum sentence of six months or less in jail, which are classified as class B misdemeanors. If the charge carries a sentence longer than six months, state law affords defendants a jury trial regardless of location.

Hoylman's bill would change the law to grant defendants in New York City the same option for a trial by jury as those elsewhere in the state.

“Something as grave as deportation or denying someone their liberty, as could happen in a B misdemeanor, warrants a trial with a jury of your peers,” Hoylman said.

But the legislation has also been met with trepidation from officials within the state judiciary, who have concerns over whether it could add to the evergreen issue of backlog in New York City courts. Adding more jury trials to the docket, in place of bench trials, would likely require more time from the state's judges to resolve those cases.

Many of those courts have made significant progress reducing backlog in recent years, including in the Bronx where the Suazo case originated. A spokesman for the Office of Court Administration said in a statement Tuesday that the legislation could present a new challenge for addressing the issue in New York City.

“Although this is a well-intentioned proposal, it will make it markedly more difficult to resolve cases in a timely manner in high volume Misdemeanor courts like New York City Criminal Court,” said Lucian Chalfen, an OCA spokesman.

Democrats on the Codes Committee expressed the same concerns before voting in favor of the legislation, which will now go to another committee before coming to the floor for a vote. State Sen. Andrew Gounardes, D-Brooklyn, said he wouldn't want the bill to expand opportunities for justice in one area, while delaying them in another.

“Given the notoriously backlogged caseload of the New York City court system, while it might be laudable to give everyone access to a jury trial, I'm just concerned about the mechanics about how this will work and whether it will cause further trial delays,” Gounardes said.

Hoylman responded to the concerns over backlog during an interview after the bill passed with another idea: fund the judiciary. He acknowledged the problem, but said lawmakers should also consider providing more resources to the state's courts to address backlog in concert with the legislation.

“I think we should be concerned about the backlogs in our court system, but this Legislature has to do something to address the resources that our judges and the court system have,” Hoylman said. “We shouldn't be cutting back on justice because we're not addressing issues of resource allocation.”

The judiciary is requesting an additional $45 million from the Legislature this year, which would mostly be allocated to pay for staffing and salary increases. That would bring the budget of the court system up to $2.28 billion, or about 2 percent of total state operating funds. Part of that funding is earmarked to advance Chief Judge Janet DiFiore's Excellence Initiative, which was created in 2016 to reduce court backlog.

Hoylman said the right to a jury trial, regardless of location, should merit a large investment by the Legislature into the state's courts to address backlog while also protecting the constitutional rights of defendants.

“We should be providing our court system with more money to handle the caseload,” Hoylman said. “The fundamental precept is the Sixth Amendment, and the right to a trial by jury. You can't cost cut away the Sixth Amendment.”

State Sen. Jamaal Bailey, D-Bronx, who chairs the Codes Committee, also suggested that lawmakers could address backlog by enacting a package of criminal justice reforms. Bailey is one of a handful of lawmakers who have pushed hard for Democrats to negotiate changes to the state's laws on criminal discovery reform, cash bail, and the right to a speedy trial.

“I believe there are measures that have been introduced by members of this committee that would help with certain backlog if we were able to get them through the Legislature, in the form of speedy trial, bail reform, and discovery reform that I think may allay some of these concerns,” Bailey said.

A timeline on when those bills could be introduced and voted on is still unclear while lawmakers work out the details of the legislation. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said twice in the past two weeks that he wants to see criminal justice reform in the state budget, though lawmakers have said they're open and willing to approve legislation outside the spending plan.

Hoylman's bill hasn't moved yet in the state Assembly, where it's sponsored by Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, D-Brooklyn.

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