ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — The New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers called on Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley to resign Tuesday.
Doorley was stopped by police for speeding on April 22, but rather than pull over, she drove all the way to her house, parked in her garage, and refused to step outside. In police bodycam footage of the incident , Doorley swears at the officer, admits she was speeding, and claims she did not know she was being pulled over.
Doorley also calls Webster Police Chief Dennis Kohlmeier and tells him to tell the arresting officer to “leave [her] alone.”
“I don’t really care,” Doorley says in the video. “I don’t really care. You know what? If you give me a traffic ticket that’s fine. I’m the one who prosecutes it.”
“DA Doorley launched into a tirade of profanity and made attempts to use her position as District Attorney to avoid a traffic ticket,” NYSACDL said in a statement issued Tuesday.
News 8 spoke with Steven Epstein, the president of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He says the matter should have been immediately referred to the Commission of Prosecutorial Conduct, which Governor Hochul later did.
The commission was created specifically to monitor the conduct of prosecutors and determine whether they broke an ethical rule and should be sanctioned. Epstein explains this was more than a speeding ticket.
“I think the best way to look at this is to say to yourself ‘If that was me, if I was just an ordinary citizen of Rochester and I’m driving in my vehicle, or in her county, I’m driving my vehicle and I engage in this conduct what happens and the answer to that is pretty simple none of that would happen it was just because of her role as prosecutor,” said Epstein.
Epstein also accuses Doorley of using her position as Monroe County District Attorney to get out of the situation.
“And that’s the most important thing for everybody who’s considering this to realize. It’s the DA of the county using her position to convince another public employee to not do their job. It’s contacting his boss to tell him to get this person to stop doing their job and it’s using her position as DA.”
“The request to not be issued a traffic summons violates the rules of professional conduct, and DA Doorley’s other actions and statements undermine the integrity of the Office of the District Attorney. An apology will not repair the harm she has caused to her office.
In this light, District Attorney Doorley’s actions make her unfit to continue to serve. The nature of a District Attorney’s responsibilities is such that fidelity to professional and ethical responsibilities is substantially entrusted to self-monitoring. But when, as here, a District Attorney engages in such patently unethical and unprofessional conduct, there is no longer a basis for public confidence in the District Attorney’s ability to monitor her own conduct. “
The New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
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The Onondaga County District Attorney, William Fitzpatrick, was selected to review Doorley’s conduct . Governor Kathy Hochul also referred Doorley’s case to the New York State Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct , saying the district attorney undermined her ability to hold others accountable for their actions.
Onondaga County DA William J. Fitzpatrick released a statement, saying he and Sandra agreed the Prosecutorial Conduct Commission is the proper forum to examine the matter:
“Sandra discussed with me the possibility of conducting an investigation of her conduct in light of my status as Chair of the State DAs Ethics Committee and one of the more senior DAs in the State. I agreed. Shortly after that the Governor announced that she was referring the matter to the Prosecutorial Conduct Commission. I felt and Sandra agreed that the Commission would be the proper forum to examine the matter and that ended any involvement on my part. “
NYSACDL said Doorley should not act as district attorney while that investigation continues, “given that no investigation will alter the conclusion that DA Doorley’s recorded actions and words were unprofessional, unethical, and are fatal to continued confidence in the integrity of the Office of The Monroe County District Attorney.”
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