https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/nyregion/ms-13-long-island.html
The slaying became a flash point in the debate over changes to the criminal justice system adopted in New York.
Wilmer Maldonado Rodriguez’s body was discovered in the backyard of a house in New Cassel, N.Y.
Credit...
Howard Schnapp for Newsday
By Ed Shanahan
Feb. 5, 2020
Updated 9:29 p.m. ET
In October 2018, Wilmer Maldonado Rodriguez stepped in to protect two boys who were being threatened by members of the MS-13 gang on Long Island, officials said. In return, the gang members stabbed Mr. Rodriguez repeatedly and hit him in the head with a bat.
Despite the vicious assault, Mr. Rodriguez agreed to testify against the gang members, who were charged with assault and witness intimidation as a result of the attack, officials said.
On Sunday, Mr. Rodriguez was found beaten to death outside a home in New Cassel, N.Y., and by Wednesday, his killing had become a flash point in the debate over a series of criminal justice changes enacted by the New York State Legislature in 2019 at the urging of progressive lawmakers.
Since the start of the year, when the changes took effect, police officials and prosecutors in New York have focused most of their criticism on an overhaul of the state’s bail laws, which they said was allowing criminals to go free.
But the killing of Mr. Rodriguez, 36, turned attention to a change in the so-called discovery law, which governs when prosecutors must turn over information about their investigative findings.
The murder came several weeks after a judge ordered prosecutors to disclose Mr. Rodriguez’s identity to lawyers who represented his alleged attackers, officials said.
New York had been one of just 10 states that let prosecutors wait until the eve of trial to turn over witness names and statements and other crucial evidence. Under the new discovery rules, such information must generally be shared within 15 days of a defendant’s arraignment.
Madeline Singas, the Nassau County district attorney, did not specifically cite the new law as contributing to Mr. Rodriguez’s death, but she suggested that being forced to identify him well before trial had hampered the authorities’ ability to protect him, and had ultimately cost him his life.
“This courageous man was prepared to testify against alleged assailants at an upcoming trial, but he was brutally beaten to death before he could,” Ms. Singas said in a statement, adding that the case “underscores the importance of safeguarding the identities of witnesses and victims of crimes.”
Patrick Ryder, the Nassau County police commissioner, echoed that sentiment at a news conference.
“This man’s dead because we didn’t do enough,” Mr. Ryder said, according to Newsday. He added, “This law is not helping us.”
But proponents of the changes, who said they were necessary to increase the fairness of the criminal justice system, said that those tying Mr. Rodriguez’s death to the new discovery rules were off base.
Scott Hechinger, a public defender, wrote on Twitter that the revised discovery law explicitly allowed judges to shield the names of witnesses in the process. The law, passed as part of last year’s budget, also says that discovery can be limited to the defendant’s lawyer or legal team, and not shared with the defendant.
Founded in Los Angeles by refugees from El Salvador, MS-13 has long had a base of operations in Long Island, which has been plagued by gang violence in recent years.
In December, the district attorney’s office in Suffolk County, which is next to Nassau, brought sweeping charges against 96 MS-13 members and associates, who were accused of participating in a vast criminal enterprise that carried out assaults, drug deals and murders.
“As we know, MS-13 is a ruthless, savage gang,’’ Timothy D. Sini, the Suffolk County district attorney, said at the time, adding that the group committed “acts of violence to recruit, retain, and control its members and exact revenge on its rivals, as well as to extort innocent members of our community.”
The gang’s notoriety has attracted the attention of President Trump, who has frequently invoked its name and reputation as a kind of shorthand for justifying a crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
“We are getting MS-13 gang members, and many other people that shouldn’t be here, out of our country,” he said on Twitter when Suffolk County officials announced the charges in December.
Jesse McKinley contributed reporting.
The slaying became a flash point in the debate over changes to the criminal justice system adopted in New York.
Wilmer Maldonado Rodriguez’s body was discovered in the backyard of a house in New Cassel, N.Y.
Credit...
Howard Schnapp for Newsday
By Ed Shanahan
Feb. 5, 2020
Updated 9:29 p.m. ET
In October 2018, Wilmer Maldonado Rodriguez stepped in to protect two boys who were being threatened by members of the MS-13 gang on Long Island, officials said. In return, the gang members stabbed Mr. Rodriguez repeatedly and hit him in the head with a bat.
Despite the vicious assault, Mr. Rodriguez agreed to testify against the gang members, who were charged with assault and witness intimidation as a result of the attack, officials said.
On Sunday, Mr. Rodriguez was found beaten to death outside a home in New Cassel, N.Y., and by Wednesday, his killing had become a flash point in the debate over a series of criminal justice changes enacted by the New York State Legislature in 2019 at the urging of progressive lawmakers.
Since the start of the year, when the changes took effect, police officials and prosecutors in New York have focused most of their criticism on an overhaul of the state’s bail laws, which they said was allowing criminals to go free.
But the killing of Mr. Rodriguez, 36, turned attention to a change in the so-called discovery law, which governs when prosecutors must turn over information about their investigative findings.
The murder came several weeks after a judge ordered prosecutors to disclose Mr. Rodriguez’s identity to lawyers who represented his alleged attackers, officials said.
New York had been one of just 10 states that let prosecutors wait until the eve of trial to turn over witness names and statements and other crucial evidence. Under the new discovery rules, such information must generally be shared within 15 days of a defendant’s arraignment.
Madeline Singas, the Nassau County district attorney, did not specifically cite the new law as contributing to Mr. Rodriguez’s death, but she suggested that being forced to identify him well before trial had hampered the authorities’ ability to protect him, and had ultimately cost him his life.
“This courageous man was prepared to testify against alleged assailants at an upcoming trial, but he was brutally beaten to death before he could,” Ms. Singas said in a statement, adding that the case “underscores the importance of safeguarding the identities of witnesses and victims of crimes.”
Patrick Ryder, the Nassau County police commissioner, echoed that sentiment at a news conference.
“This man’s dead because we didn’t do enough,” Mr. Ryder said, according to Newsday. He added, “This law is not helping us.”
But proponents of the changes, who said they were necessary to increase the fairness of the criminal justice system, said that those tying Mr. Rodriguez’s death to the new discovery rules were off base.
Scott Hechinger, a public defender, wrote on Twitter that the revised discovery law explicitly allowed judges to shield the names of witnesses in the process. The law, passed as part of last year’s budget, also says that discovery can be limited to the defendant’s lawyer or legal team, and not shared with the defendant.
Founded in Los Angeles by refugees from El Salvador, MS-13 has long had a base of operations in Long Island, which has been plagued by gang violence in recent years.
In December, the district attorney’s office in Suffolk County, which is next to Nassau, brought sweeping charges against 96 MS-13 members and associates, who were accused of participating in a vast criminal enterprise that carried out assaults, drug deals and murders.
“As we know, MS-13 is a ruthless, savage gang,’’ Timothy D. Sini, the Suffolk County district attorney, said at the time, adding that the group committed “acts of violence to recruit, retain, and control its members and exact revenge on its rivals, as well as to extort innocent members of our community.”
The gang’s notoriety has attracted the attention of President Trump, who has frequently invoked its name and reputation as a kind of shorthand for justifying a crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
“We are getting MS-13 gang members, and many other people that shouldn’t be here, out of our country,” he said on Twitter when Suffolk County officials announced the charges in December.
Jesse McKinley contributed reporting.