GENESEE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY S OFFICE

Transcription

1 GENESEE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY S OFFICE ORGANIZATIONAL CHART ADMINISTRATION PRE-ARREST INVESTIGATIONS in conjunction with Police Agencies MISDEMEANOR PROSECUTIONS in Town and Village Justice Courts FELONY PROSECUTIONS in County Court APPEALS in County Court, Appellate Division & Court of Appeals TREATMENT COURTS AND PROSECUTION OF MISDEMEANORS AND VIOLATIONS in Batavia City Court GRAND JURY PRESENTATIONS VIOLATION OF PROBATION PROSECUTIONS in all Courts DEPARTMENT DESCRIPTION The District Attorney s Office prosecutes all criminal charges brought to this office by various arresting agencies in Genesee County. We assist the police agencies in pre-arrest investigations and applications for Search Warrants and in conjunction with them we prepare applications for eavesdropping warrants or pen register orders; we do legal research; we consult with the police agencies and courts regarding bail; we meet with victims and witnesses and prepare felony cases for Preliminary Hearings and presentation to the Grand Jury. After a case had been indicted by the Grand Jury, the Prosecuting Attorney is present at all court appearances scheduled for the case. We draft all legal documents, prepare for and participate in hearings, negotiate pleas, prepare for trials, select juries and prosecute cases through the verdict and sentencing. At sentencing we must address the issue of restitution for losses sustained by the victims. Proof of losses must be obtained by the District Attorney s office and, if a resolution can not be agreed upon, a hearing is conducted to resolve the matter. After a defendant has been sentenced, the D. A. s office prepares appeal briefs and argues appeals in the Genesee County Court, the New York State Appellate Division and the New York State Court of

2 Appeals. We also defend all post-judgment applications to vacate criminal convictions on the grounds of newly discovered evidence (or other grounds). The District Attorney s office prosecutes all misdemeanor cases in every Town, Village and City Court in the County. Pursuant to a contract between Genesee County and the City of Batavia, we also prosecute Vehicle and Traffic Law violations and Penal Law violations (non-criminal offenses) in the Batavia City Court and provide additional services to this Court and the Batavia Police Department which are not available to the other Local Criminal Courts and Police agencies in the County. Misdemeanor cases are handled in much the same way as felony cases, except that they do not go through the Grand Jury process. The District Attorney s Office also prosecutes all Violations of Probation at both the County and City/Town/Village levels, as referred to the office by the Genesee County Probation Department. Furthermore, our Office represents the interests of the People of the State of New York in the County s Drug, DWI, Veterans and Mental Health Treatment Courts, held in the Batavia City Court and the IDV (Integrated Domestic Violence) Court held in the Genesee County Supreme Court.

3 DEPARTMENT: DISTRICT ATTORNEY STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK Mission The District Attorney is elected by the voters of Genesee County and is responsible to them for carrying out the prosecution of criminal cases referred to the District Attorney s Office by the various police agencies within the County, including the New York State Police, the Genesee County Sheriff s Office, the Batavia Police Department, the LeRoy Police Department, the Corfu Police Department and the New York State Park Police. Key 2014 Accomplishments COMMUNITY EDUCATION, PUBLIC OUTREACH AND ADVISORY POSITIONS: Recognizing the need to bring about positive change in the field of criminal justice and educate members of the community with respect to our legal system, District Attorney Lawrence Friedman: 1. Served as Chairman of Genesee County s Criminal Justice Advisory Council. 2. Appeared on the WBTA County Spotlight radio program. 3. Hosted a recent law school graduate who worked in our office completing his required pro bono hours. 4. Served on the STOP-DWI Advisory Board, the Justice for Children Team, the Genesee Community College Criminal Justice Advisory Committee, the New York State District Attorney s Association Executive Committee and the Crime Victims Rights Week planning committee and worked on the planning and presentation of the annual Criminal Justice Day program sponsored by the Mental Health Association in Genesee County and the annual Law Day Observance and Criminal Justice Awards Dinner. 5. Assistant District Attorney Robert R. Zickl served on the Coordinated Community Response to Domestic Violence Team and Sexual Assault Task Force. 6. Assistant District Attorney William G. Zickl continues to act as a liaison to the Genesee County Sheriff s Office on use of force issues and met members of the Genesee County Sheriff s Office and other law enforcement agencies (New York State Police, New York State En Con,

4 Batavia City Police) several times in the past year to discuss use of force issues. 7. All of the attorneys in our office volunteer their time working with the New York State Bar Association High School Mock Trial Competition. District Attorney Lawrence Friedman served as the coordinator of the program. Assistant District Attorneys Robert R. Zickl and Kevin T. Finnell served as the Attorney Advisors for the Notre Dame High School Mock Trial Team. Assistant District Attorney William G. Zickl serves as a Judge in the local tournament. Assistant District Attorney Melissa L. Cianfrini serves as Attorney Advisor for the Oakfield-Alabama School Team. 8. One of Assistant District Attorney Cianfrini s continuing and biggest time commitments this year was chairing the Young Victims Committee, a multi-county committee, which was formed to address the challenges and needs of prosecuting offenders of young victims. This committee s membership consisted of individuals with diverse backgrounds to address the needs in these special prosecutions and included members from law enforcement, DSS, CPS, JFCAC, Mental Health Care Providers, County Attorney s Offices, and District Attorney s Offices from the GLOW region (Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, and Wyoming Counties). This committee is currently drafting and in the final stages of developing a Recantation Policy to assist law enforcement, DSS/CPS, District Attorney s Offices and County Attorney s Offices in identifying and dealing with accurate and inaccurate recantations of child abuse with child victims. When complete, the policy will greatly assist various agencies in the GLOW region with addressing the issues that arise in child recantation cases. 9. All of the Assistant District Attorneys participated in the annual Summer College for District Attorneys sponsored by the New York Prosecutors Training Institute and held at the Syracuse University School of Law. 10. In August 1, 2014, Assistant District Attorney Robert R. Zickl was a presenter at a Law Enforcement training program regarding DMV refusal hearings. 11. On February 21, 2014, all of the Attorneys in our office presented a training program (two sessions) at the County Courts Facility for all law enforcement officers working in Genesee County. MAJOR APPELLATE CASES People v. Scott Doll: In March, 2012, the defense team submitted a 78 page Brief to the Court of Appeals, arguing that the majority of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department was incorrect when it held that the emergency doctrine justified the Defendant s detention and questioning by members of the Genesee County Sheriff s

5 Office, and requesting that the Defendant be granted a new trial. Assistant District Attorney William G. Zickl and Melissa L. Cianfrini assisted by the District Attorney s Office administrative staff spent weeks researching, drafting and writing our 65 page Respondent s Brief, which was filed on January 25, The Appeal was argued before the Court of Appeals on September 3, 2013 in Albany with William G. Zickl appearing for the District Attorney s Office assisted by Ms. Cianfrini. The seven Judge panel was very active and extensively questioned both counsel for the Defendant and Mr. Zickl regarding the emergency doctrine and right to counsel issues. On October 17, 2013, a unanimous Court of Appeal affirmed the Defendant s conviction for Murder. The Court found that the police officers responding to a 911 call located defendant walking along a public road covered in fresh, wet blood and their reasonable inquiries regarding the source of the blood were met with inconsistent responses by defendant, who refused to state whether the blood was from a human or an animal. The Court ultimately held that under the circumstances of the case it was reasonable for the police to believe that a person may have been seriously injured and in need of.. emergency assistance, thus justifying the Defendant s questioning pursuant to the emergency doctrine even after he had invoked his right to counsel. The Defendant then filed a motion to reargue the case before the Court of Appeals dated November 12, On behalf of the People, William G. Zickl submitted an Answering Affirmation opposing the Defendant s request dated November 25, In an Order dated January 14, 2014, the Court of Appeals denied the Defendant s Motion for Re-argument. The Defendant thereafter filed a Petition for Certiorari with the United States Supreme Court, requesting that the Court grant Federal review of the Defendant s conviction. The Genesee County District Attorney s Office, by William G. Zickl, opposed the Petition. In an Order dated March 24, 2014, the United States Supreme Court denied Certiorari. The Defendant remains in the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Service serving a sentence having a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of life in prison. People v. Jacquetta Simmons: After the Defendant was convicted of Assault in the Second Degree, her defense team was granted a stay of her sentence pending her appeal, which resulted in her release from prison. The defense team filed a Brief in the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, claiming among other things, that there was insufficient evidence brought forth at trial to support the conviction and that her sentence was unduly harsh and severe. Assistant District Attorney William G. Zickl and Melissa L. Cianfrini drafted and submitted a Brief to the Fourth Department responding to the Defendant s claims. The matter is scheduled to be argued on December 2, 2013 in Rochester. Earlier this year, The Appellate Division, Fourth Department, affirmed the Defendant s conviction but reduced the sentence imposed from 5 years determinate in

6 the Department of Corrections and Community Service to 1 year definite incarceration in the Genesee County Jail. Felony Trials Our office has prosecuted an unprecedented number of felony trials in Genesee County Court this year. Specifically, based upon the first eight months of the year, we are having two to two and a half times as many felony trials as we had in the last three years. The felony trial case load has been such that the Court has found it necessary to have additional judges assigned to Genesee County so that we could run simultaneous trials. To our recollection, this has not previously occurred in our County. The drastic increase in felony trials has put an additional strain not only on the attorneys in our office, but also on our support staff and has caused various logistical problems. Key 2015 Goals To hold steadfast in our plea practices in order to serve the public despite the additional burdens placed upon our office by additional Specialty Courts and an increase in felony trials, appeals and our overall work load. BUDGET SUMMARY Appropriation Adopted Actual Adopted Proposed Adopted By Object Salary/Fringe 824, , , , ,731 Equipment ,000 19,408 3,000 Contractual 57,571 44,414 46,240 46,240 53,271 Total Appropriation 881, , , , ,002 Revenue 206, , , , ,966 Net County Support 675, , , , ,036 FTE s BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS Salary/Fringe: Beginning in 2014, I was able to secure funding to increase in Assistant District Attorney Cianfrini's salary. The funding now available through the Department of

7 Social Services gives Genesee County the opportunity to more fairly compensate Ms. Cianfrini without increasing the County's contribution to her salary. The increase of $6280 per year (plus fringe benefits) that we will be receiving through the Department of Social Services was added to ADA Cianfrini's salary starting on January 1, This funding is expected to continue for On January 1, 2015, we also converted our part-time legal clerk-typist to a less than full-time position by adding 10 hours per week to her schedule. This change has greatly impacted the efficiency of our clerical staff and the entire office. Listed below are the salaries that are covered in part or completely by the Revenues generated by this office. Stop DWI ($49,190.00): This amount represents funding that is applied toward the salaries all Assistant District Attorneys ($38,800.00), as well as Court Reporting Services ($10,000.00) as well as one publication ($390.00). Funding is applied for annually. City Court Prosecutorial Services: ($57,300.00) A portion of the salaries of Robert R. Zickl, William G. Zickl and Lacie Snell is paid by the City of Batavia for Prosecutorial Services. Aid to Prosecution ($29,200.00): A portion of the salaries of Robert R. Zickl, William G. Zickl, Donna J. Barrett and Kathleen Schrider salaries and fringe benefits are paid from this grant. Funding is applied for annually. DA Salary Reimbursement ($72,189.00): Lawrence Friedman. DSS ($ ): Melissa L. Cianfrini Equipment: Contractual: No new equipment is being requested. Other than the proposed increases from Information Technology, we have increased two line items and decreased two others. The line item for paper was increased by $ This is due to the fact that the Sheriff s Department is now dropping all arrest paperwork into a folder which we have access to. We in turn are now printing all Sheriff s Department arrest paperwork for our files. The second line item is Specialized Supplies. This line item is used to purchase legal publications and online access to Westlaw (a web based legal research website). In previous years we have been using the basic package and slowly eliminating written publications. We increased this to a better package which allows us access to more information, including access to Appellate Division and Court of Appeals decisions.

8 INDICATORS (Cases Opened) Actual Estimated Estimated New Felonies (including felony Violations of Probation) Misdemeanors, Violations, Infractions and misdemeanor Violations of Probation Indictments Superior Court Informations