New York State's current witness immunity law permitting 'transactional' immunity (no prosecution for any matter discussed in grand jury testimony) should be changed to 'use' immunity (prosecution permitted on testimony subjects for which there is evidence totally independent of the testimony).
New York's current immunity law provides for both 'transactional' and 'automatic' immunity, the latter providing that immunity is automatically provided for all grand jury witnesses without the necessity of special immunity action. Transactional immunity was originally included in the statute in the mistaken belief that it was constitutionally required. Transactional immunity, however, has resulted in severe miscarriages of justice, the foregoing of grand jury investigations to prevent the immunizing of guilty parties, and the emasculation of investigative grand juries. Under law reform proposed by the New York State District Attorneys Association, immunity would continue to be conferred automatically, but immunity would only disqualify future prosecution of an immunized witness based on the direct or indirect use of the testimony. Prosecution could be initiated on matters discussed in the testimony on the condition that the evidence is in no way derived from the immunized testimony. The proposed law provides many safeguards to ensure that prosecution evidence complies with this criterion. The proposed bill is included.