|
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
WILLIAM J. FITZPATRICK
County of Onondaga
Civic Center, 12th Floor
421 Montgomery Street
Syracuse, New York 13202
315-435-2470
315-435-3969
DATE: JULY 21, 2003
TO: ALL MEMBERS OF THE ONONDAGA COUNTY BAR
ASSOCIATION
FROM: RICK TRUNFIO, FIRST CHIEF ASSISTANT DISTRICT
ATTORNEY
RE: ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW MUNICIPAL COURTS BUREAU AND
NEW “WALK-IN” PROCEDURE
SCHEDULE FOR MOVE TO THE NEW COURTHOUSE
As you may know, the Onondaga County District
Attorney’s Office is moving into the 4th floor of new
Criminal Courts Building. We anticipate that the moving
process will start July 25, 2003 and proceed through
August 4, 2003. The Honorable Judge James C. Tormey, III
has directed that no trials will be held in County Court
during that week. County Court calendar has also been
cancelled for at least the first three days of the week
of July 28th.
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, please fax all
Municipal Court Appointment requests to
the District Attorney's Office at 435-7740.
Include the defendants name and DR
number for each case to be conferenced.
Additionally, please include several time blocks during
which the attorney is available.
Please be advised that the Justice Court “Walk-in”
Unit will also be closed the week of July 28 - August 5,
2003.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MUNICIPAL COURTS BUREAU
Beginning on August 4, 2003, the Justice Court
Bureau of the DA’s Office will merge with the City
Court Bureau under the new name “Municipal Court
Bureau”. Chief ADA Pat Quinn will be the bureau chief
of the Municipal Court Bureau and ADA Alison Fineberg
will be his deputy bureau chief.
Our move and this consolidation of bureaus will also
bring change in the way we operate the “Walk-in Unit”.
First and foremost, we believe that these changes will
provide a more efficient and consistent response to
misdemeanor cases and vehicle & traffic matters in
Syracuse City Court and throughout the 28 Justice Courts
within Onondaga County. We also believe that ultimately
it will serve both the defense bar and the DA’s Office
better by eliminating time and duplicative efforts in
trying to dispose of misdemeanors and V&T’s in the
“Walk-in Unit”.
NEW PROCEDURES FOR CONFERENCING “WALK-IN” CASES
A defense attorney wishing to conference
misdemeanor cases pending in one of the town or village
justice courts or any vehicle and traffic matter,
must first, fax the name of the defendant and the DR #
(if applicable) of such cases to the Municipal Court
Bureau of the DA’s Office. Included in the faxed
information should be several time blocks within the
next week in which the attorney will be available. Upon
receipt, a staff member of the bureau will then locate
these files for the ADA assigned to the “Walk-In Unit”
and schedule an appointment for the defense attorney to
meet with the walk-in ADA at our office. The defense
attorney will be notified by telephone of the scheduled
date and time.
A fax line will be designated for this purpose. Until
we are settled in to the new space, attorneys should
call the main number for the fax number.
On the appointed date and time, the defense attorney
will be seen without unnecessary delay and the ADA will
have had the opportunity to review the case files and
contact the victim, if appropriate. This procedure
should be much more efficient for the defense attorney
and the DA’s staff. In order to serve everyone fairly,
the number of cases conferenced at one scheduled
appointment will be limited up to five (5) misdemeanor
cases or up to ten (10) V&Ts. |
