Darcel Clark

Darcel D. Clark
Bronx County District Attorney
Assumed office
January 1, 2016
Preceded by Robert T. Johnson
Personal details
Born 1962
New York City, New York
Political party Democratic Party
Spouse(s) Detective Ray Davis
Residence The Bronx, New York
Alma mater Boston College (B.A.)
Howard University (J.D.)

Darcel Denise Clark (born 1962) is a New York attorney and prosecutor who currently serves as the Bronx County District Attorney, serving since 2016. Clark is the first woman to hold that office, and the first female of color to serve as a district attorney in the history of the State of New York.[1]

Prior to being elected district attorney, Clark served as a judge on New York City Criminal Court and subsequently on the New York Supreme Court in the Bronx and in that court's Appellate Division.

Early life

Clark is a native of the Bronx. In her early life, she lived in the Soundview Houses in the South Bronx. Her parents, Daniel and Viola, were both community-oriented people. Her father, a grounds supervisor, worked hard to provide for the family. Her mother, a nurse, was a member of the tenant patrol, which was formed in 1975, to keep neighbors and their children safe.[2] She attended New York City Public Schools and graduated from Harry S. Truman High School in the Bronx. Clark became the first member of her family to attend college.[2]

She attended Boston College, graduating in 1983 with a Bachelor's of Arts. She then attended law school at Howard University, graduating in 1986.[2]

Clark is married to First Grade Detective Eaton "Ray" Davis, a 32-year veteran of the New York City Police Department and graduate of John Jay College of the City University of New York.

Early career and member of the judiciary

Following law school, Clark returned to the Bronx, where she was hired as an assistant district attorney for Mario Merola, the Bronx County District Attorney at the time, and stayed under her immediate predecessor, Robert Johnson. Clark served as supervisor of the Narcotics Bureau from 1993 to 1997 and Deputy Chief of the Criminal Court bureau from 1997 to 1999.[3]

In 1999, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani appointed Clark as a Judge for the Criminal Court for the City of New York, where she served for seven years. In 2006, Clark was elected to the Supreme Court in Bronx County, where she served until Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed her to serve as an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division of the First Department of the New York Supreme Court in November 2012.[4]

Bronx County District Attorney

Clark decided to step down from the bench to seek election as the Bronx County District Attorney, following Johnson's decision to step down to seek a judgeship one week after his win in the primary election in September 2015. This sparked controversy, as much of the press perceived Johnson's decision as orchestrated by the Bronx Democratic Party to avoid selecting the next district attorney in the primary.[5] Regardless, Clark easily defeated her Republican opponent, Robert Siano, in the November 2015 general election, garnering 86.64% of the vote.[6][7]

As district attorney, Clark has vowed to implement reforms to address wrongful conviction, administrative backlogs, and problems surrounding Rikers Island,[8] among others.[9]

Clark's tenure as District Attorney has been marred by reports of cronyism and misconduct. In May 2016, newspaper accounts revealed Clark to have rehired a friend who had been forced to resign form the District Attorney's Office years prior after falsely impersonating a police officer, breaking a man's nose, and fleeing the scene of a crime in a fit of road rage. Reporting further revealed that Clark gave a prominent promotion and raise to the assistant district attorney responsible for the bungled prosecution of Kalief Browder.[10] A federal civil rights lawsuit alleged that Clark and high-ranking members of her newly-formed Public Integrity Bureau sought to harass and intimidate a police officer for issuing a traffic ticket to fellow Democratic party member Vanessa Gibson.[11][12] Another federal lawsuit claimed that Clark demanded the resignation of a disabled prosecutor after she requested handicap access to accommodate her wheelchair.[13] Court filings in the conviction integrity investigation surrounding the murder conviction of Calvin Buari revealed that investigators acting on behalf of the Bronx District Attorney's Office sought to bribe and threaten a witness who exculpated the wrongly accused and imprisoned defendant, ultimately silencing this witness.[14] Clark's prosecution of Sgt. Hugh Barry for the murder of Deborah Danner, an elderly woman suffering from a mental illness who was shot and killed in her home, resulted in an acquittal on all charges.[15] Clark was later revealed to have suppressed evidence and kept an innocent teenager in jail for over one year on attempted murder charges until, on the eve of trial, Clark was forced to dismiss the case in the wake of a public outcry.[16] Clark dismissed another case against a young man kept in jail for years without being convicted after claiming, again on the eve of trial, that the alleged witness to this murder could not be located. [17]

References

  1. ↑ "Darcel Clark makes history as first African-American woman elected DA in New York State". Amsterdam News. 2015-11-04. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  2. 1 2 3 "Giving Up the Bench in Hopes of Bringing Justice to the Bronx". New York Times. 2015-09-27. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  3. ↑ "'Daughter of the Bronx' Sketches Priorities for DA's Office". New York Law Journal. 2015-10-14. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  4. ↑ "Darcel Clark Becomes First Female DA in History of Bronx". NY1. 2015-11-03. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  5. ↑ Pastor, Kate (2015-10-02). "Bronx District Attorney Candidate Defends Her Nomination by Democratic Leaders". New York Times. p. A24. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  6. ↑ "Statement and Return Report for Certification - General Election 2015 - 11/03/2015 - Bronx County - All Parties and Independent Bodies - District Attorney - Bronx" (PDF). vote.nyc.ny.us/. Board of Elections in the City of New York. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  7. ↑ "Darcel Clark declared winner in Bronx DA race". News 12 The Bronx. 2015-11-04. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  8. ↑ Hu, Winnie (March 5, 2016). "Rikers Island Cases Are Focus for New Bronx District Attorney". New York Times. p. A18. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  9. ↑ "D.A. Hopeful Darcel Clark Vows to Speed Up Office With CompStat-Style System". DNAinfo. 2015-10-05. Archived from the original on 2015-12-15. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  10. ↑ Gonen, Yoav; Fenton, Reuven; Sheehy, Kate (2016-05-11). "Bronx DA ignores scandals, gives pals plum promotions". New York Post. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  11. ↑ Whitehouse, Kaja (2017-05-01). "Bronx DA retaliating against cop for writing ticket to council pol: suit". New York Post. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  12. ↑ "NYPD Cop: Bronx DA Retaliating Against Me For Exposing Corruption". www.thesandersfirmpc.com. The Sanders Firm. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  13. ↑ "Lawyer in Wheelchair Sues Bronx DA's Office for Discrimination". DNAinfo New York. Archived from the original on 2017-03-02. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  14. ↑ "A Man Is Being Freed From Prison After A BuzzFeed News Story Convinced Witnesses To Come Forward". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  15. ↑ McShane, Thomas Tracy, Chelsia Rose Marcius, Larry. "NYPD sergeant acquitted in Deborah Danner's death - NY Daily News". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
  16. ↑ Schapiro, Molly Crane-Newman, Graham Rayman, Rich. "Charges dismissed against Pedro Hernandez, Bronx teen jailed following 2015 shooting - NY Daily News". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
  17. ↑ "After 5 Years on Rikers Island and No Trial, Bronx Man Sues CIty". NBC New York. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
Legal offices
Preceded by
Robert T. Johnson		 Bronx County District Attorney
2016–present		 Incumbent
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