Criminal Discovery in New York: The Effect of the New Article 240

Despite the many persuasive reasons for criminal discovery, its development in New York took place in a gradual, ad hoc manner. This led the New York State Legislature to enact the original article 240 in the Criminal Procedure Act (CPL) in 1971 which provided the courts with a consistent framework to discovery and significantly expanded an accused rights to evidence. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the original article 240, some significant problems that arose under it, and how the new enacted article 240 attempted to address the problems. The author then argues that the new statute could have gone further in opening up criminal discovery