Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said yesterday he intends to use a New York State Bar Association report on wrongful convictions and the work of other outside groups to help develop an office in which the chances are minimized that innocent defendants will be arrested, prosecuted and convicted.
“In the three weeks in which I have held this office, I have already convened groups of assistant district attorneys to help me move forward on addressing some of the issues we talked about [during the campaign] such as evaluating the issues related to disclosure and discovery material, to other Brady obligations, and forensic training,” Mr. Vance told hundreds of lawyers and judges gathered yesterday at a presentation on wrongful convictions at the state bar’s annual meeting.
