A BROKEN SYSTEM

A drug case involving a doctor shows the urgent need for new procedures

Albany County District Attorney Paul Clyne deserves some credit for
acknowledging that his office made a mistake by quickly dropping drug
charges against a prominent surgeon last week. Amid growing criticism of
the dismissal, Mr. Clyne said he has given his staff strict orders abut how
to handle drug cases. The question is whether those directives, and a
pledge to look at the broader issue of suburbanites who allegedly come into
the city to buy drugs, will go far enough to restore public confidence in
the office.

Mr. Clyne ran for district attorney last year on a tough-on-crime platform.
Since taking office, he has wasted little time in making good on that
pledge. But it was a different story when Dr. Darroch Moores, a thoracic
surgeon, was charged last week with possession of crack cocaine after
police stopped his car for running a red light in a neighborhood known for
drug trafficking.

By the next morning, Dr. Moores had pleaded guilty to running the light and
was a free man, after his attorney had persuaded an assistant district
attorney to drop the misdemeanor drug charges. The doctor claimed that as
he was driving home from Albany Medical Center, a youth had jumped into his
vehicle and attempted to sell him drugs, then jumped out, throwing the
crack cocaine away, as police closed in for an arrest.

Initially, Mr. Clyne found the doctor's story a plausible one and defended
the decision to drop the charges. But a closer look at the police report
shows it alleges the doctor, not the youth (who was not apprehended) tossed
the drugs.

Mr. Clyne is now considering whether the charges can be reinstated.
However, he previously said he was not aware of the decision to drop them
until after the fact, nor did he learn of the contradictory police report
until it was too late to change the outcome. But why? The same question
might be asked of Public Safety Commissioner John C. Nielsen, who was
contacted about the arrest on Sunday evening. It seems simple enough to
compare a written officer's complaint with a defendant's alibi, and then
decide whether to prosecute.

Nor can Mr. Clyne place the blame for poor judgment on his assistant. As
the top prosecutor, he bears sole responsibility for the actions taken by
his office. He must be informed of any assistant's plan to drop charges,
and delay final action until he has had time to examine all the evidence.
The same goes for Commissioner Nielsen. Finally, when there is even the
slightest doubt that a double standard might be in play, the district
attorney's office should ask to adjourn a case to give all sides, and the
public, a chance for review.

Albany's civil rights activists are citing the Moores case as yet another
example of that double standard -- one for prominent white citizens and
another for poor black residents. This case only underscores such a perception.