STATEMENT FROM SUFFOLK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY RAYMOND A. TIERNEY REGARDING REVERSAL OF CONVICTION IN PEOPLE v. DRAGO

“This trial took place before I took office as District Attorney. The court’s decision to reverse the trial verdict was based upon a finding of prosecutorial misconduct committed in the summation by the assigned prosecutor. That prosecutor, as well as those supervisors from the prior administration who oversaw the trial and reviewed those remarks prior to the summation, were not retained by me and are no longer with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. We respect the appellate court’s decision and will, of course, abide by the ruling as we evaluate how best to proceed in light of this decision.”

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Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments.

Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.

William J. Lindsay County Complex • Building 77 • 725 Veterans Memorial Highway, Hauppauge, NY 11788

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