Democrats insist bail laws will not change despite Suffolk County body parts case
SUFFOLK COUNTY, Long Island (PIX11) — Outcry continues to grow after the four people linked to the body parts found scattered across Long Island were allowed to walk free.
It has reignited the debate about bail reform.
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But defenders of the controversial bail changes are firing back pointing the finger of blame at the Suffolk County District Attorney for his handling of this case.
“When you can take a dismembered body and conceal it in a place where children play and walk away scot-free, this is not rational,” said Lou Civello, with the Suffolk PBA.
Law enforcement leaders and Republican lawmakers have been longtime critics of New York’s 2019 bail reform, which has been tweaked several times since. In this case, prosecutors and the judge agreed bail was not allowed because the only charges were technically non-violent offenses related to desecrating a man and a woman both in their 50s.
The District Attorney has yet to charge a “violent” crime like murder.
“You have to think perhaps we’ve gone a little too far with bail reform,” said Ed Romaine, (R) Suffolk County Executive.
However, defenders of bail reform, including Governor Kathy Hochul, and Senate Democrats said the case has nothing to do with bail reform.
“It’s deeply concerning that these people are not in jail because the DA undercharged them when he clearly could have charged them with bailable offenses. Prior to our bail reforms, these charges rarely resulted in bail being set,” said a spokesperson for Senate Democrats.
“I think you’ll find were one of the most aggressive district attorneys in the state, and that being said it’s a smokescreen,” responded Ray Tierney, Suffolk County District Attorney.
Late Thursday, Tierney fired back in a press conference. He said the police are conducting a proper and thorough investigation, and judges should be allowed to consider a quote “dangerousness” when it comes to bail.
“They wrote this woefully inadequate law, and they need to fix it,” he said.
In practical terms, Democrats control the entirety of state government and Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Jeffrion Aubry of Queens said more tweaks to bail reform are not on the table at this time.
“Every time something goes wrong, they think a tweak is required, never mind why it went wrong,” he said. “From our perspective, bail is to make sure you come back for trial; it does not guarantee you will never commit a crime again.”
The DA would not comment on specific details of the case. Two defendants are due back in court Friday, the DA would not say if at that point murder charges would be filed.
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