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Diane LaVallee and Dennis Delano Talk About Changing the System! Published October 8, 2008 Author: Geoff Kelly © ARTVOICE Lunch with Diane and Dennis At a corner table in the former tavern that is the headquarters of the First Amendment Club, Diane LaVallee and Dennis Delano were revisiting the murder cases they'd worked. The jowly Delano, the suspended Buffalo police detective who reporters routinely and generously describe as "stocky," worked on half a sandwich while LaVallee, prompted by a reporter from the Riverside Review, recalled the 1992 rape and murder of 13-year-old Jennifer Dominiak of Glor Street in Black Rock. Dennis Delano and Diane LaVallee's successful prosecution of Anthony Gugino, a friend of the Dominiak family, won her admiring headlines in the Buffalo News back then, among them this one: "Taking the Tough Cases: Prosecutor Diane LaVallee makes the world's horrors her work." "Anthony helped to convict himself," LaVallee said, "when he hired-well, he didn't know it was an undercover cop-in state prison to kill the main witness against him." When LaVallee announced her campaign to succeed Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark, who is retiring after 12 years in office, she received an email from the victim's sister and mother, wishing her well. It was a gratifying reminder, LaVallee said, of what she loved about being a prosecutor. "In every case that you try, you hope not only to get a conviction of the people you think are actually guilt, but also that you make the system-that is, the criminal justice system, that cold, inarticulate bureaucracy-into a face of someone who really does care." LaVallee is a registered Democrat but is running on the Republican line, having lost last month's three-way Democratic primary to Clark's deputy in the DA's office, Frank A. Sedita III. The third candidate, Ken Case-like LaVallee a former prosecutor in the Erie County DA's office-dropped out of the race and endorsed Sedita. Case's support for Sedita came a surprise, not only to LaVallee, who had joined Case in calling for a changing of the guard in the DA's office, but to many of his early supporters, including many law enforcement officers and organizations rebelling against Clark's heavy handed administration and seeming reluctance to prosecute difficult cases. Dennis Delano was one such early supporter of Case, who launched his campaign before Clark had announced his intention to retire. Delano said Case's endorsement of Sedita, who he regards as Clark's handpicked successor, "ripped my heart out." |
"He represented a change, that's why I backed him 100 percent," Delano said. "Diane wasn't in the race when Ken jumped in, he was the only one there to buck the system, to take on Frank Clark. I don't know what to make of it. I'm still just speechless."
Now Delano is backing LaVallee, which is what brought the two of them together at this political club in Black Rock.
LaVallee, Case, and Sedita are all seasoned prosecutors. Sedita stuck around and became Clark's number two, but LaVallee and Case both left the Erie County DA's office to pursue other careers. (LaVallee left the office immediately after Clark took office in 1997.) The hiring and retention of talented lawyers has been a nagging problem under Clark. Vacancies have gone unfilled and prosecutors leave in droves. This, along with Clark's desire to protect a high rate of successful prosecutions, contributes to the DA's perceived inability or unwillingness to handle all the cases the cops bring to them.
"Let me tell you a not-so-secret secret," LaVallee said. "People are not leaving the DA's office because of the money. For the Buffalo economy, they get decent pay." And the job, she said, is both demanding and satisfying. "It is a great thing to be a prosecutor. You're always wearing the white hat, you're always doing the right thing. That's why I always worked so hard at it."
Talented prosecutors have left the DA's office leave for the same reason Ken Case did: They bristled under Clark's regime. Delano said he could think of at least three respected prosecutors who left because they were unhappy working for Clark, though he declined to name them.
Retaining talent, LaVallee said, would require two measures. "Number one is getting the politics out of the office. Number two is getting the supervision back in the office, so your supervisor is someone you learn from and is a mentor to you, not someone who blames you if something gets screwed up.
"Getting the right leadership in there is critical. Getting the politics out of the office is critical. Within eight months of the $112,000 in raises that we paid for with our taxes so these good people wouldn't leave the office for better-paying jobs, $40,000 of it went into the campaign coffers of my opponent. That would be a good raise right there: Don't take money from the DAs. That's one of my pledges now and one of pledges as a DA."
LaVallee's platform comprises a dozen more pledges; they can be read, along with her CV, at dianelavallee.com.
Delano, of course, is making his own debut in politics: Suspended for insubordination after releasing information to the media about the Crystalynn Girard murder case, Delano is using his time off to run as a Republican against Democrat Bill Stachowski, who's been a state senator for 26 years. That's too many years, Delano argued, with too few results.
"I believe that the people within the system have been there so long that they've become arrogant," Delano said. "It's sheer arrogance that keeps them there."
Politics, Delano said, mean nothing to him. He insisted that he owes the Republican Party, which is financing his campaign, no special allegiance. "We don't have the luxury of playing party politics anymore. We need to put in the people who can fix the problem," he said, gesturing to LaVallee. "It can't be about party anymore. We don't have that luxury. We dug ourselves too deep."
The message must be working: A poll released Wednesday showed Delano with a 13 percentage point lead, 49 to 36, over Stachowski.
If elected, Delano may find himself in the minority party; Democrats threaten to overturn the Republicans' current 31-30 majority in the state senate. What if Delano goes to Albany and finds himself unable to effect change?
"If I can't make a difference in two years, I'm outta there," he said. "I'll pack my bags and leave.
"What, it becomes a job? I don't need a job. I got a job. I got a pension."
Below is a link to a blog article written by Rus Thompson with additional information.
"Lunch with Diane LaVallee and Dennis Delano"
News Release
For Immediate Release:
Contact: Diane LaVallee
716-604-4495
September 25, 2008
Statement From District Attorney Candidate Diane LaVallee
If the voters want true change in the Erie County District Attorney's office, there is now only one candidate that can make that happen-Diane LaVallee. My entire campaign has been focused on changing how the current District Attorney's office functions. And, the other Democrat opponent in the primary, Ken Case, ran against the current administration in the DA's office. In fact, his campaign banner was "Making A Case for Change."
I'm disappointed in Ken Case's decision to now support the current administration of the DA's office by supporting the current Deputy District Attorney, Frank Sedita, the man DA Frank Clark has anointed as his successor. The only thing that's changed is Ken Case's mind. The question we all need answered is what backroom deal was made for Ken Case to dramatically change his agenda. There will be no change in the DA's office if Frank Sedita is elected. Frankly, it will be more of the same-it's politics as usual.
I have a vision for change in the District Attorney's office: an office with integrity; an office without politics; an office committed above all to serving the people of Erie County.
Go HandBILLS!
Published July 3-9, 2008
Author: Geoff Kelly
© ARTVOICE
In DA race, LaVallee emphasizes experience, Sedita looks to ground game.
We're not taking sides in the race for Erie County District Attorney - not at all. For one thing, it's too early to pick a favorite, with the Democratic primary still two months away; for another, there are a number of good candidates vying to replace the departing Frank Clark.
However, we are keeping track of the nascent campaigns, and we noted this: A handbill for candidate Diane LaVallee is fronted by a photo of a competent-looking LaVallee, arms folded, on a red, white, and blue background. Listed on the back are LaVallee's bona fides: an "experienced, respected Assistant District Attorney and New York State Assistant Attorney General"; "25 years of both courtroom and administrative experience"; "only candidate who has participated in the prosecution of a dozen death penalty cases across New York State"; an impressive list of awards received, positions held, and so on.
The message: A vote for LaVallee is a vote for experience and accomplishment.
Meanwhile, candidate Frank A. Sedita III - whose famous name earned him the lead role in Bob McCarthy's June 30 Buffalo News article on local political dynasties - has issued a handbill that looks similar on its face: the competent-looking portrait, the exhortation to vote Sedita on September 9, etc.
On the back? The 2008-2009 Buffalo Bills schedule.
The message: Vote Sedita and Marshawn Lynch goes free.
LaVallee's Candidacy Could Make Her Erie County's First Woman District Attorney
Published August 20, 2008
Vol. 85 No. 34
© Riverside Review
The Race for District Attorney
By Diane LaVallee
The Erie County District Attorney's office is in dire need of change. Due to recent high profile wrongful convictions, the public has been made keenly aware that something is broken in the District Attorney's office. What is broken is the public's confidence in the criminal justice system. It is time to fix it. For the first time in 12 years, the voters of Erie County have a choice for District Attorney.
What is needed to fix the District Attorney's office is someone with not only the depth and breadth of experience to make the necessary changes, but with integrity and vision to vigorously prosecute wrongs, preserve rights and protect people.
I am the only candidate in this race with 25 years of experience both in the courtroom and as an administrator in charge of various prosecution and law enforcement departments across the state. I am the only candidate who has actively participated in the prosecution of a dozen death penalty cases. I am the only candidate with statewide prosecutorial experience.
I intend to make the necessary changes to the District Attorney's office by following what I've dubbed the three C's of my campaign: community, cooperation, courtesy. First and foremost is community. My intention is to have an office that is accessible and accountable to the diverse community which it serves. Second is cooperation. It is essential to the proper administration of justice that the District Attorney's office and the police work together in cooperation. I will work with law enforcement agencies, rather than against them. Third is courtesy. The District Attorney's office should deal with all members of the criminal justice system with respect. I intend to take the politics out of the office.
By electing me District Attorney we will make history not only by electing the first woman DA in Erie County, but by creating an unprecedented era of openness, accessibility and accountability.
Reporter's Note: In Diane LaVallee's 13 years with the Erie County DA's office, she became the first woman Assistant Bureau Chief of the County Court System, the first woman in the Special Investigations'' Unit, the first Prosecutor to use DNA evidence in a murder trial.
In 1997, Diane became the first woman in charge of the Capital Assistance to Prosecutor's unit of the NYS Attorney General's office, helping small DA's offices across the state prosecute their death penalty and complicated murder cases.
Diane LaVallee has successfully prosecuted many cases including some high profile cases that still resonate in this community.
The trial of Anthony Gugino, who murdered 13 year old Jennifer Dominiak. The trial of Gino Greco, a serial sodomist who attacked six women in North Buffalo. The prosecution of Angel Colon, who raped and murdered Samantha Zaldivar. The trial of six men who stomped Kevin King to death in Olean. And the trial of Barbara James, who murdered her two infant children, then slit the throat of her 9 year old son who tried to stop her.
Erie County District Attorney Race Offers Choice
Click Here to Listen to Diane LaVallee on WBFO
District Attorney Candidate LaVallee's Strength is Her Record
Click Here to View this Article from The Buffalo News
Delano Endorses LaVallee for DA; Sees Sedita as a 'copy' of Clark
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LaVallee takes Sedita to task on fundraising, warns of ethics filing.
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Diane LaVallee will bring trust, integrity, and leadership back to the DA's office.
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LaVallee's Insistence Led to Murder Conviction.
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LaVallee Faults Sedita on DA Office Donations
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DA Staffers Shift Cash from Clark to Sedita
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DA Hopefuls Sedita, LaVallee, Case Start their Race to Succeed Clark
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GOP Taps LaVallee for DA Run
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