“When you say new blood that usually means there’s a greater level of enthusiasm. You’re not going to find anyone more enthusiastic than me – no matter how old I am.”
“If anyone comes to me with a hypothetical case, I know that I’ve encountered that fact pattern somewhere along the line in my career.”
“While the enthusiasm is there, while the skills are there, and while the people’s enthusiasm is there, this is where I’m going to stay. I’ve had lots of offers to go elsewhere and never availed myself of them because this is a job I love.”
“It feels exhilarating, daunting, humbling. A whole panoply of emotions go through you. The thing that I feel most is the internal pressure I put on myself when I meet the parents of a victim like that.”
“What was so professionally satisfying about the case was that the crime occurred in November, and in March, less than five and one half months later, he’s on his was to state prison for the rest of his life without any possibility of appeal. That doesn’t happen in a lot of places.”
“Sets a tone for the community of what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable. Sets an atmosphere that this type of conduct we’re going to come down on very harshly and swiftly on top of you. And at the same end, we’re not monsters, we’re not unsympathetic. I don’t believe in a ‘lock them up and throw away the key’ attitude. We were the first county upstate to have a drug diversion program. I started it and a lot of the cops thought I had two heads when I told them about it, and it became very successful. It became a model for other communities around the state and around the county. It’s something I’m very proud of.”
“I look forward to the next for years, but not like a baseball player might look forward to the next four years going out and getting paid to play a game. I’m going to be paid, if I’m lucky enough to still be DA for the next four years, to be handling misery and heartache.”
“I love being the guy that people rely on. I love that pressure.”
(Leigh Isaacson and Melanie Kendall are seniors in broadcast journalism. )
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