Ken Thompson Elected District Attorney in Brooklyn

Thompson, a former federal prosecutor who tried the New York City police officers accused of attacking Abner Louima in 1999, will be Brooklyn’s first black district attorney. He is taking over one of the largest district attorney’s offices in the country, with more than 80,000 cases a year.

“For every boy and girl who may be seeing this in public housing, you can do great things with your life,” Thompson said in his victory speech Tuesday night, flanked by former Gov. David Paterson and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. “You must work hard, you must believe you can do it and you must never give up. I’m an example of that.”

At his own election night speech, Hynes said that the return for the general election fight was a decision he had no regrets, “not at all,” making.

“It’s a substantial vote. It gives Ken Thompson a clear mandate which he didn’t have after the primary,” Hynes said. “He has an absolute right to have a clean transition and we’ll have it.”

Hynes, 78, said that while he would be out of a job come January, he had no intention of retiring.

“I had a great, great run,” Hynes reflected. “I’ve had a great public career and I’m sure I can tell you I’m not going to kick up my heels, relax, and read good books. I still have a lot to offer when the dust settles.”

A private attorney, Thompson, 48, initially beat Hynes during the Democratic primary in September. Hynes initially said he would not run at all, then changed his mind and campaigned on the Republican ballot line.

The move launched a heated battle, with Hynes arguing Thompson didn’t have the qualifications for the job and Thompson saying Hynes turned his back on the people of Brooklyn by not following his word to make the transition smooth.

Thompson has said he wants to change the culture of the office and bring in new technology. He hopes to tackle gun violence, create a cybercrime unit to combat rising identity theft, and retrain lawyers on evidence rules.

He also said he would not prosecute drug possession cases involving less than 15 grams of marijuana because he believes the resources would be better spent on more serious crimes. He’d offer noncriminal fines instead, he said.

“I want the assistant district attorneys who work for me to know that the fundamental duty of the prosecutor is to do justice and not just to convict someone,” he said.

This article appeared in print on page 15 of the November 7th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.