DA race moves focus to ‘forgotten’ candidate

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Five months into the job, the almost forgotten man amid the Republican primary saga for Livingston County district attorney — the Democratic incumbent, Gregory J. McCaffrey — has been working to bring a more aggressive approach when it comes to cases brought to the office, as well as acting on short-term and long-term goals.

First up in the three-way race is the obvious.

“Short term, win in five weeks,” said McCaffrey, 36, a York, Livingston County, native, who was appointed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to the job earlier this year.

McCaffrey is facing Eric Schiener, the county’s former first district attorney whom McCaffrey let go on his first day on the job. The GOP committee just last week chose Schiener as the Republican candidate in the race, three weeks after a primary election that was supposed to have decided the contest.

Former Livonia Town Justice Steven Sessler, who narrowly lost out on the GOP nod, is running on the Conservative Party line.

Several times during the absentee counts, court battles and committee votes that helped determine the November campaign, McCaffrey tried to keep track of the latest development in a race that had many of them.

McCaffrey also made regular court appearances and kept up on the administrative part of the job, because, he said, that’s his job.

“To me, politics have no role in the office,” McCaffrey said.

McCaffrey, a former prosecutor in the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, is trying to streamline the Livingston County office, which had been run by former DA and now state Supreme Court Justice Thomas E. Moran.

The office hasn’t had a change at the top in 18 years, which explains the free-for-all to find a successor. McCaffrey’s appointment expires Dec. 31. But, that also explains why an office that is not broken needs to be modernized, he said.

To count down on local justice court appearances, felony offenses are better screened at the beginning of the process and a restructuring of how such cases are presented to a grand jury is under way, saving time and money, McCaffrey said.

McCaffrey also is trying to boost the office’s visibility in the community, through forums, school visits and working closely with the law enforcement community.

“It bothers me that unless you are a defendant or victim, you have no idea who we are,” McCaffrey said.

Long term, he’d like to establish something on the order of a special victims unit, particularly as it relates to offenses against children, he said. The county typically deals with driving-while-intoxicated cases and offenses against children.

“More care and attention needs to be given to their needs,” McCaffrey said.

The DA’s 11-person staff is young, and he would like to set up a training program for its attorneys, and, he said, he would like to change the image of the office and make it a place where attorneys want to come.

“All we can do is train and work together,” McCaffrey said. “When the cases come, we are fully prepared to deal with it.”

Challenges ahead are money, and the office attempts to do more with less, like any other government agency, he said. Like other counties in New York, Livingston County is faced with issues such as sexting and synthetic drug use.

Hanging onto the seat won’t come without a fight.

Both of McCaffrey’s opponents have battled against each other and now say they are prepared to take on the district attorney.

The opportunity to campaign through the summer, and the heightened media attention given to the race during the subsequent primary election ballot counts and court appearances gave him the ability to showcase his resume, Schiener said.

In addition to shining a light on his experience, voters were able to see which candidate handled the pressure best, and with integrity.

“I think they can see the better person to be in that office,” said Schiener, who worked with the DA’s office since 1999.

Sessler’s camp pointed to a poll last week of more than 500 registered Republican, Conservative and independent voters, a poll commissioned by the campaign.

If the DA vote was held today, Sessler, not Schiener, would defeat McCaffrey in a three-way race, which indicates his support across party lines, Sessler said.

In addition to his courtroom and town justice experience, his attention to law and detail during the ballot counts and legal challenges shows how he would run the office, he said.

“It’s about justice,” Sessler said after a court appearance last week. “It’s about being dedicated to justice. If you want to be DA, you better be legalistic. If not, don’t take the job.”

Although Schiener and Sessler discount the suggestion, many political observers believe enough Republican votes will be split between the two GOP adversaries to benefit McCaffrey.

Political science theories aside, McCaffrey, whose father was a former state trooper, said he has extensive and well-rounded experience of his own. He most recently was an attorney in private practice and Conesus town attorney. He said he has prosecuted thousands of misdemeanor cases and more than 250 felony cases during his Monroe County years.

“I grew up in a law enforcement family, and a lawyer in this county is a dream job,” McCaffrey said. “I want the office to be one that other counties will model themselves after. I want to try to be the best in the state.”