I retired Dec. 31 after nearly 28 years as Chatham town justice. When I heard District Attorney Paul Czajka was instructing his assistant district attorneys in how traffic tickets would be handled in town and village courts, I decided to visit all 18 town courts in Columbia County. I was disturbed to find a lack of respect, with some exceptions, given to the courts and judges by the ADAs.
The Register-Star reported in April that DA Czajka had said he was going to prosecute all traffic tickets and that he felt traffic defendants were not criminals and should not be treated as such. However, more people are injured or killed in traffic accidents than by his real criminals.
His method of disposing of these charges has been to withdraw, plea bargain or dismiss any that went to trial. It is the responsibility of the judge to decide whether to accept the plea presented by the DA. Yet when a plea was not accepted by a judge, DA Czajka or his ADA would not call a witness at the time of trial.
These plea bargains were presented to the courts as ultimatums: Take it or set a trial date. Then, if a judge chose trial, the ADA would not have notified the arresting officer of the trial date, leaving the court no choice but to dismiss the case for failure to present evidence.
These reduced charges were presented by ADAs who seemed loosely aware of key details from the defendant's file.
Currently, DA Czajka has implemented a process where his office notifies defendants to appear at 401 State St. in Hudson before their appearances in court. In some cases, these plea offers and fines were being discussed and signed by a legal intern. Yet according to the Criminal Procedure Law, the court sets the fine and surcharge.
I have always believed in, and supported, the justice system guaranteed by our Constitution.
When a prosecutor decides not to prosecute particular laws and insists on assuming the role of judge, we should all be worried.
JUDGE DORIS T. APPEL
North Chatham
Retired judge