Wagstaff joins Westchester DA race; a look at who else is in the field of Democrats in 2024

A civil rights lawyer with experience in the criminal justice system but none as a prosecutor is running for Westchester District Attorney.

William Wagstaff III registered a campaign committee with the state Board of Elections last month and on Monday l formally announced his candidacy in next year’s election, hoping to become the county’s first Black DA. The winner will succeed Mimi Rocah who announced in late October that she would not be running for a second term.

Wagstaff joins former Westchester prosecutor Adeel Mirza and Sheralyn Pulver Goodman, a longtime public defender who now runs the county Independent Office of Assigned Counsel, as the only announced Democrats although others are expected to join the open race.

The three met last week with the executive committee of the Westchester Democratic party. Among the others said to be considering a run is Westchester County Judge Susan Cacace.

Democrats enjoy a nearly 3-to-1 edge among registered voters in the county. Republican chairman Douglas Colety said he expects his party to field a candidate but no one has announced plans to run.

Wagstaff says he would bring unique experiences to the job, suggesting that few candidates for a county’s top law enforcement position, not to mention DAs themselves, have been both a crime victim and a convicted criminal.

As an undergraduate at St. John’s University, he said, he was seriously injured in a stabbing.

He declined to discuss details of the federal case for which he was convicted, saying it was in his past "and doesn't define who I am today." A review of online court records shows he pleaded guilty in 2004 to a misdemeanor charge of unlawful use of a scamming device to obtain credit card numbers. He was sentenced to three years probation that included six months home confinement, 100 hours of community service and more than $15,000 in restitution.

The sentencing judge turned out to be his evidence professor at Pace School of Law, where he graduated five years later. His conviction meant it took longer than usual for him to get his law license, but the judge was among those who wrote character references that helped him get admitted to the bar in 2016.

Before establishing a law practice that has focused on civil rights cases and criminal defense he worked in the Mount Vernon city law department and later as a consultant with the Mount Vernon Urban Renewal Agency. In recent years he has served as the city's special prosecutor in police disciplinary cases, but is quick to warn that should not label him "anti-police."

He downplays the significance of never serving as a criminal prosecutor, saying the role of DA is to set policy not to be in court prosecuting cases.

Wagstaff wants to introduce more data-driven efforts to prevent gun violence, hate crimes, domestic violence and property crimes rather than only reacting once they happen. He said “diversion should be the rule” and not the exception and that existing programs do not go far enough to address the root problem for young adults who may have made poor decisions and should be steered away from offending again.

“They need someone to recognize that they are more than the worst of their decisions and be given an opportunity so that they can redeem themselves, where they’re given an opportunity for a second chance, an opportunity for restorative justice so they can circle back to those who they’ve harmed and actually make amends,” Wagstaff said.

Mirza says emphasis should be on crimes that impact community

Mirza said more emphasis has to be placed on crimes that impact the community, like hate crimes, violence against women and children and violations of tenants' rights. And there needs to be more outreach into high-crime areas and less focus on "prosecuting poverty" and the ripple effect that minor violations have when poor people can't afford to pay tickets or fines.

He says his nearly two decades in the Westchester DA’s Office, including stints running the Greenburgh, White Plains and Yonkers branches, make him the most qualified candidate for the job. He became a criminal defense lawyer in 2021 after Rocah did not reappoint him when she took office.

He said the past three years have seen unprecedented turnover in the DA’s Office and he hopes to be a stabilizing force if elected.

“I kind of grew up in that office,” he said. “I care about it and know what it takes to run it."

Pulver cites broad scope of experience

Pulver ran unsuccessfully for Yorktown Town Board in 2019. She serves as a vice chair of the Westchester Democratic Committee so as a candidate would not be involved if there is an endorsement.

She said her experience is the broadest among the candidates, having begun her legal career as a Brooklyn prosecutor at the height of the crack epidemic, worked as a public defender and then had administrative positions that would serve her well managing the DA's Office. Before becoming head of the new assigned counsel office last year she was deputy commissioner of the Westchester Department of Probation.

She said she worked through reforms that enhanced prison sentences and reforms that recognized the need to address the societal ills that drove criminal conduct in order to reduce recidivism.

"I have been there through every point of evolution in the criminal justice system responding to issues of the day," Pulver said. "So I well understand who the people who come into it are, what drives them into it, the need for opportunity in some cases and the need for certain accountability in others."

She said she would establish a "leadership pipeline" in the office for less experienced attorneys that lets them know that if they are good and ethical prosecutors there is a path forward into leadership roles. She said the scourge of gun violence that has terrorized minority communities requires a zero tolerance policy that sharply reduces plea-bargaining in weapon cases. And she would continue the current practice eschewing large drug sweeps that round up users in favor of investigations into significant drug dealers.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Wagstaff, Mirza, Pulver seek Westchester DA Dem nomination in 2024