Cortland County’s district attorney blames the dismissal for lack of speedy trial of two felony cases in Cortland County – regarding a bank robbery and a rape – on “bad policies” in Albany.
The challenger to his re-election, however, says other counties aren’t seeing cases dismissed for delayed trials at the same rate and blames the prosecutors’ office, although state data differ.
The dismissal in the bank robbery came even as an accomplice who drove the getaway car in June 2023, was convicted and sentenced to probation.
Cortland County District Attorney Patrick Perfetti acknowledged the two recent felony cases had been dismissed. But he insists that Cortland County is getting felony convictions at a higher rate than prosecutors in other counties.
State data show Perfetti’s conviction rate ranged from 66.5% to 77.7% between 2018 and 2022, similar to the state excluding New York City. The state rate ranged from 67% to 77.6%.
Dismissals have developed into an issue in the DA’s race. Democratic candidate Elizabeth McGrath of Homer, Cortland County’s former chief assistant DA, has promised on her website to “restore integrity and competence to the DA’s office.”
Perfetti, a Republican, had fired McGrath as his top assistant several years ago, then reinstated her to her position a week later. The county board paid her $100,000, and covered the cost of six months of medical coverage to settle her complaint that she was fired without merit.
McGrath, said Friday that dismissal of felony charges is far less common in other counties.
From 2018 through 2022 – the latest year for which the state Division of Criminal Justice Services has complete records – Cortland County’s rate of dismissed cases are slightly lower than the rest of the state, not including New York City.
By year, with the statewide numbers in parenthesis:
2018: 8% (9.7%)
2019: 9.3% (10.8%)
2020: 9.2% (11.3%)
2021: 9.8% (13.7%)
2022: 6.2% (13%)
However, the number of dismissals spiked in 2023. Cortland County had just 14 in all of 2022, but 21 in just the last eight months of 2023.
Perfetti said he has “repeatedly asked the County Legislature” to increase the size of his staff, which yielded funding for two assistant DAs and a victim advocate. The office now has four assistants; one assistant’s spot remains vacant, according to the county’s personnel web page.
The county “could double the size of our staff and we still would have more work than is possible to complete,” Perfetti said.
In a statement, Perfetti added he blames “bad policies” promoted “by Democrats in Albany,” including cashless bail and discovery reform.
However, bail reform and discovery reform both began in 2020, and Cortland County’s dismissal numbers remained largely unchanged until 2023, even as the statewide numbers began to rise.
“It’s horrible,” McGrath said, “that we’re seeing people responsible for violent crimes get off because our district attorney’s office has not made this a priority.”
