Crimefighter exodus: Manhattan prosecutors flee DA office after Bragg takes helmBy Larry Celona, Conor Skelding and Melissa Klein
January 15, 2022
Prosecutors in soft-on-crime Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office are flooding the exits amid his “radical shift in policy,” The Post has learned.
Bragg’s controversial “Day One” memo issued on Jan. 3 told assistant district attorneys to not seek prison sentences for many criminals and to downgrade some felonies to misdemeanors. His leadership has already created a firestorm that has led to an online petition calling for him to be removed.
“I know one [ADA] who was with the office over 20 years who left without a job,” said a law enforcement source. “They didn’t want to work in this kind of office. They wanted to continue prosecuting the law.”
Over the past two weeks, at least a dozen lawyers have quit.
Among the departures is senior trial counsel Joan Illuzzi-Orbon, who successfully prosecuted Harvey Weinstein, and won a 2016 conviction in the infamous 1979 murder of Etan Patz.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2022/01/15/prosecutcrimefighter-exodus-manhattan-prosecutors-flee-da-office-after-bragg-takes-helmors-leave-manhattan-das-office-after-bragg-comes-in/