|
 White Plains, NY - From the Desk of Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore: The role of a modern prosecutor has many facets – two of the most important are making certain people are safe in their communities and ensuring the people we serve are receiving fair, impartial and expeditious justice in our courts.
Our basic mission, to ensure the public’s safety, is fairly straight forward.
As District Attorney of Westchester County, I have readily accepted my obligation to promote fairness and justice at every level of our system by ensuring that in every case we prosecute, we not only strive to convict the guilty, but also make certain that no one is wrongfully convicted for a crime that he or she did not commit.
In spite of all our efforts, our criminal justice system is not infallible.
After being in office less than a year, my office commissioned a study of the wrongful conviction of Jeffrey Deskovic, a teenager convicted in 1990 for raping and murdering a high school classmate.
A coalition of experts studied the prosecution of Mr. Deskovic, paying particular attention to the systematic failures that led to his wrongful conviction. The comprehensive report compiled by this study and released by my office shined a light on the failures of our criminal justice system.
Just last month, Jonathan Lippman New York State’s recently appointed Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, in one of his first statewide initiatives, created a task force to examine wrongful convictions.
Judge Theodore T. Jones Jr. a Court of Appeals Associate Justice and I have been named Co-Chairpersons of this Task Force. Members of the Task Force will include lawmakers, prosecutors, defense attorneys and scientists.
We will have a broad mandate allowing us to examine police procedures, court rules, and other issues involved in wrongful convictions.
What makes this Task Force unique is that it will not focus solely on Capital cases, but look at all wrongful convictions whether misdemeanors or felonies. Additionally it will collect data on a continuing basis and monitor the effectiveness of any policy changes that are made.
Justice is best served when we in the criminal justice system come together, look at our strengths and our weaknesses and develop an even more effective way to serve and protect the communities we are entrusted to serve.
The Westchester County District Attorney’s Office will continue to engage in new and thoughtful ways of achieving justice and enhancing public safety in this community.
For help scheduling a presentation or other community event, please call our Community Affairs office at 914-995-3317.
If you have any questions or need additional information on our programs, please visit our website at www.westchesterda.net.
 |
