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DISTRICT ATTORNEYS ASSOCIATION OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

PRESIDENT
SCOTT D. MCNAMARA
PRESIDENT-ELECT
DAVID SOARES
ONEIDA COUNTY
ALBANY COUNTY

1st VICE PRESIDENT


SANDRA DOORLEY
MONROE COUNTY

2nd VICE PRESIDENT


DAVID HOOVLER
ORANGE COUNTY

3rd VICE PRESIDENT


J. ANTHONY JORDAN
WASHINGTON COUNTY

SECRETARY
June 19, 2018
EDWARD D. SASLAW
ADA, QUEENS COUNTY

TREASURER
DANIEL BRESNAHAN
ADA, NASSAU COUNTY NYS Assemblymember Carl Heastie
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Room 892, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12248
DARCEL CLARK
BRONX COUNTY

JON E. BUDELMANN
CAYUGA COUNTY

WEEDEN A. WETMORE
CHEMUNG COUNTY
RE: A5825C/S2412D
JOSEPH A. MCBRIDE
CHENANGO COUNTY

ANDREW J. WYLIE

Mr. Speaker and Members of the Assembly:


CLINTON COUNTY

JOHN FLYNN
ERIE COUNTY

KRISTY L. SPRAGUE
ESSEX COUNTY New York’s district attorneys agree that the disciplinary process for lawyers in New
LAWRENCE FRIEDMAN
GENESEE COUNTY
York is broken and in need of reform, however we strongly oppose the costly, duplicative,
MARSHA K. PURDUE and unconstitutional bill pending before the Assembly to create a Commission on
HAMILTON COUNTY

JEFFREY S. CARPENTER
Prosecutorial Conduct, A5825C/S2412D. Instead, we call for long-overdue reforms to the
HERKIMER COUNTY
grievance and disciplinary process that governs all attorneys.
KRISTYNA S. MILLS
JEFFERSON COUNTY

LEANNE K. MOSER
LEWIS COUNTY The New York State Justice Task Force was convened in 2009 by former Chief Judge
WILLIAM GABOR
MADISON COUNTY
Jonathan Lippman and continued under Chief Judge DiFiore with the mission of eradicating
MADELINE SINGAS the systemic and individual harms caused by wrongful convictions, and to recommend
NASSAU COUNTY
reforms to safeguards to prevent them. The Task Force specifically examined and considered
the investigation and discipline of prosecutorial misconduct, and in a February 2017 report,1
CYRUS R. VANCE, JR.*
NEW YORK COUNTY

WILLIAM J. FITZPATRICK*
ONONDAGA COUNTY rejected the creation of a Commission on Prosecutorial Misconduct in favor of steps to equip
GREGORY S. OAKES
OSWEGO COUNTY
existing Grievance Committees to properly handle criminal justice matters.
RICHARD A. BROWN*
QUEENS COUNTY

THOMAS P. ZUGIBE*
Specifically, the Task Force recommended:
ROCKLAND COUNTY
• Grievance Committees should include active practitioners from both the
KAREN HEGGEN
SARATOGA COUNTY prosecution and defense bars who have substantial experience and expertise in the
ROBERT M. CARNEY*
SCHENECTADY COUNTY criminal justice system.
JOSEPH G. FAZZARY
SCHUYLER COUNTY
• All Grievance Committee members should be provided with specialized training
BRIDGET G. BRENNAN
SPECIAL NARCOTICS
on the standards relating to criminal matters.
HOLLEY CARNRIGHT • Grievance Committees should initiate investigations where a finding of attorney
ULSTER COUNTY

DONALD O’GEEN
misconduct—either prosecutorial misconduct or ineffective assistance of counsel
WYOMING COUNTY

* PAST PRESIDENT OF DAASNY


by a defense attorney- has been made in a court decision.
The Justice Task Force is the most comprehensive and diverse assembly of
stakeholders that has reviewed and opined on this issue. Task force is co-chaired by former

1
New York State Justice Task Force, Report on Attorney Responsibility in Criminal Cases, February 2017,
available at http://www.nyjusticetaskforce.com/pdfs/2017JTF-AttorneyDisciplineReport.pdf
3 COLUMBIA PLACE, ALBANY, NEW YORK 12210
TEL: (518) 598-8968 EMAIL: PRESIDENT@DAASNY.ORG
WWW.DAASNY.ORG
DISTRICT ATTORNEYS ASSOCIATION OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Court of Appeals Judge Carmen Beauchamp Cipatrick and Judge Mark Dwyer. Its permanent
members include judges, executive branch officials, leaders from the defense bar, and both
houses of the legislature are represented with ex-officio members.

The Task Force rightly recognized that the proposed Commission on Prosecutorial
Conduct would create a second, duplicative level of oversight for prosecutors that could
impair our work, our ability to recruit qualified and ethical attorneys to serve, and could
saddle taxpayers with the costly burden of defending assistant district attorneys against
frivolous allegations before two, overlapping tribunals. We also have serious concerns as to
the constitutionality of this legislation.

We acknowledge the power and discretion attending our responsibilities as


prosecutors, but professional misconduct by any attorney--prosecutors, defense attorneys,
securities lawyers, government attorneys— should be subject to robust investigation and
discipline by competent, well-functioning Grievance Committees. This problematic
legislation does nothing to provide that.

We encourage the Assembly to reject this legislation, and to work to remedy issues
plaguing attorney discipline fairly and equitably, with the same rules, standards and process
for all lawyers.

Sincerely,

Scott McNamara
President, DAASNY
District Attorney, Oneida County

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