NYLJ: Why did you decide to run for district attorney?

RMM: I didn’t. When I left the U.S. attorney’s office I went into private practice. I was a solo practitioner because I didn’t want to get committed to a lot of administrative work. Patterson Belknap wanted me to come back but my wife was diagnosed with cancer in 1969 and so I wanted to have time to keep my own hours. I had five children at that point.