Suffolk DA: Allow Judges to Consider Danger in Bail Decisions

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney is renewing calls for judicial discretion in bail decisions, citing a series of alarming cases where New York’s current laws prevented prosecutors from seeking detention. During a press conference on July 17, 2025, Tierney outlined multiple incidents ranging from a murder dismemberment to the alleged rape of a 5-year-old girl, arguing that judges must be allowed to weigh a defendant’s dangerousness when setting pretrial release.

“Judges must be allowed to consider the dangerousness; prosecutors must be allowed to argue dangerousness,” Tierney said. He criticized state laws that he says too often tie courts’ hands, forcing releases that endanger communities.

The cases come as a new bill, sponsored by state Sen. Dean Murray and Assemblyman Joseph DeStefano, would make any crime involving physical, psychological, or emotional harm to a child under 18 a presumptively bail-eligible offense. The bill is part of a broader legislative push to address gaps in the 2019 bail reform law, which eliminated cash bail for most misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies. Critics have long argued the law leaves no room for judges to consider public safety, while proponents say it prevents unnecessary pretrial incarceration of low-income defendants.

One of the most jarring examples cited by Tierney occurred in March 2024, when four people were arrested after human remains belonging to a Yonkers couple were found scattered in Babylon and Bethpage State Park. The suspects were initially charged with concealment of a corpse, hindering prosecution, and tampering with evidence — none of which are bail-eligible under state law. Prosecutors said investigators recovered blood, butcher knives, and meat cleavers. Despite the gruesome evidence, defendants were released until a grand jury later indicted them on more serious charges, including murder and dismemberment. Only then could they be held.

In February 2025, a 27-year-old man accused of raping a 5-year-old girl he was babysitting was initially charged only with endangering the welfare of a child — a non-bail-eligible offense. The child suffered internal injuries requiring surgery. Unable to seek detention, prosecutors arranged for the man to receive a desk appearance ticket, which allowed federal immigration agents to take him into custody. After DNA evidence emerged, the man was indicted on predatory sexual assault and first-degree rape, and was then ordered held without bail.

Tierney also highlighted the November 2025 arson at Pazzo Ristorante and Wood Fired Pizzeria in Wading River. A former employee was charged with third-degree arson, burglary, and criminal mischief after investigators found seven separate points of origin and a bottle of charcoal lighter fluid. An accelerant-detection dog alerted on clothing from his home. Yet the arson charge did not qualify for bail, so the suspect was released.

In March 2025, a Brentwood traffic stop led to the discovery of two Molotov cocktails made from beer bottles and a container of gasoline. Prosecutors said three suspects planned to firebomb the vehicle of a person involved in an earlier dispute, and noted possible ties to MS-13. The weapons charge was not bail-eligible, so all three were released after arraignment. A fourth suspect was later arrested, and all were indicted on conspiracy charges — again, the charges were not bail-eligible, leading to another release.

“These are just a few examples,” Tierney said. “We’re asking for some help. We need laws that make sense.”

Exclusive perspective: Balancing public safety and due process

Legal experts say the debate over judicial discretion in bail is not unique to New York. A 2023 study by the Brennan Center for Justice found that pretrial detention rates have risen in many states after reforms, but the key is whether risk assessment tools can replace subjective dangerousness judgments. “Judges already have the ability to set bail in serious cases, but the list of qualifying offenses may be too narrow,” said John K. Roman, a senior fellow at the University of Chicago’s Crime Lab. “The real question is whether we can design a system that respects due process while protecting the public.”

The Murray-DeStefano bill, if passed, would add crimes against minors to the list of bail-eligible offenses. Critics worry that expanding the list could further entrench pretrial detention for low-level offenses, disproportionately affecting minority communities. But Tierney and other law enforcement advocates argue that the current system is too rigid, forcing prosecutors to rely on alternative charges or immigration enforcement to keep dangerous individuals off the streets.

The bill is expected to face committee hearings in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Tierney’s office continues to push for a broader overhaul that would allow judges to consider a defendant’s history of violence, threats to witnesses, and other factors beyond the specific charge.

“We need laws that make sense,” Tierney reiterated. “The public deserves to be safe.”