Shel Evans on denied discovery access and vendor accountability concerns

All right, there we go.

Hi, I'm Shel Evans.

I'm an independent journalist, formerly incarcerated at Rikers Island and author of Rikers Island Criminalized Survivor.

I am here today listening to the testimony and...

I have concerns.

I have 20 years experience as a software engineer, and so when I hear the complaints about vendors and blaming vendors for the lack of

sharing information and valid systems and...

I don't find that to be a valid excuse.

I find that to be hard to be believed.

I worked for ESPN.

I worked for Time Warner.

I worked for very big systems, IMD Sports Entertainment, World Cup.

I did their website.

I did Tiger Woods'website.

I worked on very high-scale systems.

And the fact that they are blaming vendors for not being able to share information and not being able to get

access to this information so that it can be handled swiftly so defendants aren't languishing on Rikers Island is a little disconcerting.

I would ask that the city look at their vendor.

policy and maybe ways to bring it in-house, to develop these systems in-house.

That was very concerning for me.

The discovery issue, I was denied discovery while I was in there.

My case languished from 2019 to 2022 when it was finally settled.

Of course, it was during the COVID pandemic, but I was denied access to discovery.

My lawyer requested a laptop so that I could watch the discovery that they had, videos and stuff of that nature, and I was denied that.

So that's another issue that concerns me for defendants unable to make decisions that are

that are informed because they're being denied discovery availability.

If you're out in the community, you can get on your computer, you can look at this discovery.

If you're locked up in Rikers, there's nothing you can do.

They deny it and you're a sitting duck.

Also, the...

They highlighted how, what was it, like 99% or some high 90% of cases don't go to trial.

And that's due to the lengthy minimum sentences.

They scare inmates into taking pleas.

I was facing 5 to 25.

And when you're facing

25 years, you stop caring about whether you're guilty or innocent.

You care about not spending 25 years for something you didn't do.

Just to ask a follow-up question, when you say that you were denied your discovery, what were the reasons that they gave?

My lawyer didn't tell me.

She said she requested a laptop so that I could view my discovery and that they denied it, and that was all the information I was given.

And so it delayed you getting, did you eventually get the discovery?

No, never did.

You never got it.

Never did.

I had to make decisions blindly.

And so that's a big concern for me.

Why, if a system wants, you know, to be fair, why would you prevent a defendant from being able to see that evidence or that discovery that has been, you know, gathered against you?

So that was a concern.

Thank you.