The City of Troy, New York, "Where Henry Hudson Turned Around."

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

30 YEARS + DA'S OFFICE = 2 1/2 YEARS

No, it's not your math skills that are wanting. It's just our District Attorney's office. In particular, it's the example set by DA DeAngelis.

Christopher Allen was tried and convicted for rape in 2002. The victim was 15 years old. He was sentenced to thirty years in prison (rightly so). Unfortunately, our DA snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Do to both prosecutorial misconduct and errors by the judge, Allen's conviction was overturned in December of 2004.

Allen recently pled guilty to a lesser charge. He will be sentenced to 2 and 1/2 years in prison. Since he has already done the time, he will not spend a day in prison. He'll get time served. Oh, yeah, he has to register as a sex offender because he'll now be back out in the community.

The deal was struck, in part, because the victim did not want to go through another trial. Who can blame her? She probably expected the first trial to be carried out competently.

Since no one else has done so, the Troy Polloi hereby requests the resignation of District Attorney Trish DeAngelis. This is no indictment of the entire office. There are good ADA's in Rensselaer County. ADA's that are more interested in convictions than political careers and headlines. Morale has reached a breaking point and if DeAngelis is a true leader, she'll see the need for new blood.

We're not holding our breath.

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