Furor Erupts Over Killing of Witness in MS-13 Gang Case.The slaying became a flash point for opponents of changes to the criminal justice system pushed by progressive lawmakers in New York.

New York Times ^ | February 5, 2020 | Ed Shanahan

[karpov]

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, and by Wednesday, his killing became a flash point for opponents of 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 State have mostly focused their criticism on an overhaul of the 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 state’s 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, as called for by revisions to the discovery process generally requiring that such information be shared within 15 days of a first court appearance. New York previously let prosecutors wait until the eve of trial to turn over the material.

Madeline Singas, the Nassau County district attorney, said that being forced to identify Mr. Rodriguez well before trial had hampered the authorities’ ability to protect him — ultimately costing him his life.

“This courageous man was prepared to testify against alleged assailants at an upcoming trial

[BTerclinger]

I am pretty sure most victims of crime in NY are black and hispanic.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/analysis_and_planning/year-end-2016-enforcement-report.pdf

(as in most of the country, inter-racial victim / perpetrator stats show higher % of white victims are are attacked by non whites than by whites, but most victims of crime by non whites are non whites...

[GrandJediMasterYoda]

Probably drugs, I would not doubt it in the least.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Sounds like the plot of a Law and Order episode.