New_York_County_District_Attorney

New York County District Attorney

New York County District Attorney

Elected district attorney for Manhattan


The New York County District Attorney, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney, is the elected district attorney for New York County (Manhattan), New York. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws (federal law violations in Manhattan are prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York). The current district attorney is Alvin Bragg. He was elected in 2021 to succeed Cyrus Vance Jr.[1]

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District attorneys are legally permitted to delegate the prosecution of petty crimes or offenses.[2][3] Prosecutors do not normally handle New York City Criminal Court summons court cases, and the Manhattan district attorney has a memorandum of understanding with the New York City Police Department allowing their legal bureau to selectively prosecute them.[4][5]

History

In the legislative act of February 12, 1796, New York State was divided into seven districts, each with an Assistant Attorney General, except New York County where Attorney General Josiah Ogden Hoffman prosecuted personally until 1801.[6]

From 1801 to 1813, New York County was part of the First District, which included the counties of New York, Kings, Queens, Richmond, and Suffolk. At that time, Queens included current-day Nassau County and Westchester included the Bronx. In 1813, Westchester County was apportioned to a new district with Rockland and Putnam counties, and in 1815, New York County became the Twelfth District—the only one at the time that was a single county. In 1818, each county in the state became its own district.

From 1874 to 1895, New York County included the West Bronx, and from 1895 to 1913 it included all of what is now Bronx County, governing the same area as does the present Borough of the Bronx.[7] On January 1, 1914, the Bronx became a separate county with its own district attorney.

Until 1822, the district attorney was appointed by the Council of Appointment, and held the office "during the Council's pleasure", meaning that there was no defined term of office. Under the provisions of the New York State Constitution of 1821, the district attorney was appointed to a three-year term by the County Court, and under the provisions of the Constitution of 1846, the office became elective by popular ballot.[6] The term was three years, beginning on January 1 and ending on December 31. In case of a vacancy, an acting district attorney was appointed by the Court of General Sessions until the Governor of New York filled the vacancy with an interim appointment until an election was held for the remainder of the term.

The Consolidation Charter of 1896 extended the term by a year of the incumbent John R. Fellows, who had been elected in 1893 to a three-year term (1894–1896). Since the city election of 1897, the district attorney's term has coincided with the mayor's term and has been four years long.[8] In case of a vacancy, the governor can make an interim appointment until a special election is held for the remainder of the term.

List of district attorneys

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Films

Television series

  • The D.A.'s Man, which ran for a single season on NBC in 1959, starred John Compton as Shannon, an undercover investigator for the Manhattan DA's office. Produced by Jack Webb, the series fictionalized the career of real-life Manhattan DA's Investigator Harold Danforth, whose autobiography, also titled The D.A.'s Man, written in collaboration with veteran, Pulitzer Prize-winning police reporter James D. Horan, had won an Edgar from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Fact Crime Book.
  • For the People starred William Shatner as an idealistic young deputy district attorney in the Manhattan DA's Office, Howard da Silva as his supervisor, and Lonny Chapman as his investigator.
  • Hawk, which ran for a half-season in 1966, starred Burt Reynolds as Lt. John Hawk, a detective assigned to NYPD's Manhattan DA's Squad.
  • Cagney & Lacey was revived in 1994 for a series of irregularly scheduled two-hour TV-movies. In the interim between these films and the original series, Cagney had been promoted to lieutenant and placed in command of the NYPD's Manhattan DA's Squad. Lacey, having retired some years earlier was persuaded to return to police work as a criminal investigator for the Manhattan DA's Bureau of Investigation, allowing the two partners to work together again. There were four movies in the revived series between 1994 and 1996.
  • Blue Bloods: Depicts the prosecution of criminal suspects by lawyers of the New York County District Attorney's office through the character assistant district attorney Erin Reagan (Bridget Moynahan), who started out the series as a Trial Division Assistant District Attorney before being promoted to Deputy Bureau Chief in toward the end of Season 3 and then to Trial Division Bureau Chief at the start of Season 9. Since Season 5, Erin has worked closely with D.A. Investigator Anthony Abetemarco (Steven R. Schirripa).
  • Law & Order: The long-running television series Law & Order and its spin-offs depict the prosecution of criminal suspects by lawyers of the New York County District Attorney's office. In the original pilot episode "Everybody's Favorite Bagman", shot in 1988, Roy Thinnes was cast as District Attorney Alfred Wentworth. Subsequent district attorneys depicted in the franchise are Adam Schiff (1990–2000), Nora Lewin (2000–2002), Arthur Branch (2002–2007) and Jack McCoy (2008–2011, 2018–Present). Law & Order ceased production in 2010, but McCoy (though not seen) was still occasionally mentioned as being the Manhattan district attorney in the spin-off series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in several episodes through 2011. A reference to "the new DA" in a 2013 episode indicated that McCoy had moved on from the position presumably sometime in 2012; his replacement was unnamed. However, McCoy became the district attorney again as of 2018, showing up in an SVU episode and later during the 21st season of Law & Order that started in 2022.

References

  1. "Alvin Bragg Set to Become Manhattan's First Black District Attorney". 2 July 2021.
  2. People v Jeffrey's, 53 Misc 3d 1205 (2016)
  3. Chester, Alden; Weeks, Lyman Horace; Dougherty, John Hampden (1911). Legal and Judicial History of New York. National Americana Society. p. 136. new York county district attorney 1818.
  4. Geoffrey Hermalyn and Lloyd Ultan, "Bronx" in The Encyclopedia of New York City (1st edition), edited by Kenneth T. Jackson, New York Historical Society and Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut, 1995, ISBN 0-300-05536-6, page 140.
  5. Except from 1901 to 1905, when the district attorney's term was four years and two mayors each served a two-year term.
  6. Werner, Edgar A. (1891). Civil List and Constitutional History of the Colony and State of New York. Albany, N.Y.: Weed, Parsons, and Company. pp. 553–563. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  7. Werner (1891), p. 554. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  8. Werner (1891), p. 558. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  9. "Death of N.B. Blunt, Esq". The New York Times. July 18, 1854. p. 4. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  10. "New-York State Election — Additional Returns State Ticket — City Vote". The New York Times. November 10, 1853. p. 8. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  11. "Sudden Death of Lorenzo B. Shepard". The New York Times. September 20, 1856. p. 4. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  12. "New-York City — City Politics — Soft-Shell Judiciary Convention". The New York Times. October 12, 1854. p. 8. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  13. "Official Canvass". The New York Times. December 5, 1854. p. 6. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  14. "Votes for City Officers at the November Election — Official". The New York Times. November 21, 1857. p. 8. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  15. "Peter B. Sweeny Dead at 86 — One of "Big Four" of Tweed Ring Spent His Last Years In New York". The New York Times. September 1, 1911. p. 7. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  16. "Court of General Sessions". The New York Times. January 4, 1858. p. 5. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  17. "Resignation of P.B. Sweeney". The New York Times. October 4, 1858. p. 4. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  18. "News of the Day". The New York Times. October 6, 1858. p. 4. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  19. "Law Reports — Court of General Sessions for January". The New York Times. January 3, 1859. p. 3. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  20. "Vote for Canal Commissioner — Votes for Assemblymen and Senators". The New York Times. November 7, 1861. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  21. "Local Intelligence — The Recent Elections in the City — Corrected Vote by Wards". The New York Times. November 10, 1867. p. 8. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  22. "Obituary — Samuel B. Garvin". The New York Times. June 29, 1878. p. 5. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  23. "Law Reports — The Law Courts for January". The New York Times. January 4, 1869. p. 2. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  24. "New-York — Official Vote for President and Governor". The New York Times. November 22, 1872. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  25. "Mr. Phelps's Successor — His Assistant, Mr. Rollins, Appointed Temporarily". The New York Times. January 4, 1881. p. 9. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  26. "Mr. Phelps's Successor — Daniel G. Rollins Appointed District Attorney by the Governor". The New York Times. January 11, 1881. p. 5. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  27. "A Republican Majority — The State Ticket Elected On a Close Vote". The New York Times. November 9, 1891. p. 1. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  28. "The New District Attorney — Mr. M'Keon Assumes Office and Visits the Toms". The New York Times. January 3, 1882. p. 8. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  29. "Mr. M'Keon's Successor". The New York Times. November 23, 1883. p. 8. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  30. Patterson, Edward (1906). Memorial of Wheeler Hazard Peckham. New York, N.Y.: Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  31. "Wheeler H. Peckham Resigns — Ill Health Causes Him to Give Place to Peter B. Olney as District Attorney". The New York Times. December 11, 1883. p. 1. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  32. "Official Vote of the County — Most of the Cleveland Electors Have a Plurality of 43,130". The New York Times. November 20, 1884. p. 8. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  33. "Mr. Martine Begins Work". The New York Times. January 2, 1885. p. 8. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  34. "Shall The People Be Beaten?". The New York Times. October 23, 1887. p. 4. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  35. "Col. Fellows in Office — A Day of Congratulations and Hospitality". The New York Times. January 3, 1888. p. 8. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  36. "Favor Vernon M. Davis — Indorsed by Business Men as Col. Fellows's Successor". The New York Times. December 12, 1896. p. 7. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  37. "Mr. Schurman Will Act — To Be District Attorney from Midnight Until Justice Jerome Is Sworn In". The New York Times. December 31, 1901. p. 14. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  38. Manual for the Use of the Legislature of the State of New York — 1914. Albany, N.Y.: J.B. Lyon. 1914. p. 665. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  39. "The City Vote — Hylan's Plurality 417,986 — Craig's 249,252 — Banton's 83,680". The New York Times. November 10, 1921. p. 4. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  40. "District Attorneys Elect and Some of the Victorious Judicial Candidates". The New York Times. November 6, 1929. p. 3. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  41. "Officials Elected". The New York Times. November 8, 1933. p. 1. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  42. "Strong Backing for Hastings". The New York Times. July 6, 1937. p. 10. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  43. "Thomas E. Dewey Is Dead at 68". The New York Times. March 17, 1971. p. 1. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  44. "Hogan, District Attorney 32 Years, Dies". The New York Times. April 3, 1974. p. 1. Retrieved 29 November 2013. Frank S. Hogan, the shy, courteous lawyer who became a legend in 32 years as Manhattan's District Attorney, died yesterday at St. Luke's Hospital. Mr. Hogan was 72 years old and lived at 404 Riverside Drive.
  45. "District Attorney Hogan". The New York Times. November 4, 1941. p. 22. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  46. "Dedicated Crime Buster - Alfred Joseph Scotti". The New York Times. December 22, 1959. p. 25. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  47. Breasted, Mary (September 18, 1973). "Hogan Has Had a Stroke And Lung‐Tumor Surgery". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  48. Goldstein, Tom (February 6, 1974). "Kuh Appointed Manhattan Prosecutor; Scotti, Chagrined, Planning to Retire". The New York Times. p. 41. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  49. "Kuh Is Sworn In; Plans Neighborhood D.A. Offices". The New York Times. February 14, 1974. p. 45. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  50. Saxon, Wolfgang; Vitello, Paul (November 19, 2011). "Richard H. Kuh, Ex-Manhattan Prosecutor, Dies at 90". The New York Times. p. D8. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  51. Kihss, Peter (September 12, 1974). "Morgenthau‐Kuh Contest To Be Repeated on Nov. 5". The New York Times. p. 12. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  52. Evans Asbury, Edith (November 6, 1974). "Morgenthau Trounces Kuh in D.A. Race". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  53. Bromwich, Jonah E. (December 31, 2021). "Manhattan D.A. Leaves Office With One Big Case Up in the Air". The New York Times. p. A16. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  54. Bromwich, Jonah E. (November 3, 2021). "Manhattan Elects Its First Black D.A., in a Shift That Is Beyond Symbolic". The New York Times. p. A18. Retrieved 4 January 2022.

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