Sandra Doorley's 'disturbing lack of respect' violated ethics code, board finds

Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley violated the county code of ethics in April when she drove away from a Webster police officer attempting to pull her over for speeding and then treated him contemptuously in her driveway, the county Board of Ethics concluded in a report released Thursday.

Doorley was driving to her house in Webster on April 22 and traveling about 20 miles per hour above the posted speed limit when Officer Cameron Crisafulli raised his lights and siren on Phillips Road, about half a mile from her house.

She pulled into her driveway and confronted Crisafulli, cursing at him and retreating into her garage despite his orders not to. She called Webster Police Chief Dennis Kohlmeier three times during the interaction in an attempt to have him intervene.

During the first call, according to Kohlmeier, she told him to "tell your officer to stop (expletive) following me."

Her interaction with Crisafulli "reflected a sense of entitlement as well as a disturbing lack of respect for the Officer personally and professionally," the Board of Ethics concluded.

Her actions were an attempt to secure unwarranted favors and sufficed to "raise suspicion among the public that she is likely to be engaged in acts that are in violation of (her) trust," the threshold for a violation of the county's code of ethics, the board found.

The board stopped short of saying that Doorley actually did commit a conflict of interest — largely because Crisafulli and Kohlmeier refused her entreaties and issued her a speeding ticket.

After word of the body-worn camera footage began to circulate, Doorley issued a deceptive public statement that minimized her actions during the traffic stop; the report called it "misleadingly antiseptic." She apologized more fully during a press tour after the video became public, but not before receiving national condemnation.

The fine for the speeding ticket was $183.

Ongoing Sandra Doorley investigations

The board has no disciplinary abilities but said it was appropriate that other ongoing investigations into Doorley's actions continue. Among them are reviews by the Eighth Judicial District's grievance committee and the state Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct.

It also said Doorley should disclose details of the ethics training she said she completed in the aftermath of the incident.

Last, it recommended that Doorley should request that an outside special district attorney be appointed to determine whether she broke any laws — for instance, obstruction of governmental administration, or a further traffic charge for not pulling over immediately.

Doorley earlier asked Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick to review for such a possibility, and he found none. The ethics report, however, noted that Fitzpatrick's role was "entirely voluntary in nature" and suggested a more formal appointment, to "prove an important element of District Attorney Doorley's continuing commitment to her efforts to restore the public's trust in her."

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Sandra Doorley's 'disturbing lack of respect' violated ethics code, board finds