Frank Sedita III became a prosecutor because he wanted to “wear the white hat,” and these days he’s riding at the helm of the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York, preaching a message that DAs have just as much of an obligation to exonerate the innocent as they do to convict the guilty.
“Prosecutors are not blood-thirsty adversaries,” said Sedita, the 53-year-old Erie County district attorney who took over in July as president of the statewide association of prosecutors. “We are a unique creature of the criminal justice system. Unlike other lawyers who have to zealously represent their client, we take a separate oath to do justice. Our client is not an individual, it is the noblest instincts of a civilized society. That means we owe a duty not only to the victim, but to the accused and the integrity of the system.”
