To the Editor:

The district attorney serves as the chief law enforcement officer for the county in which they are elected. Having served eight years as an elected DA and an additional 18 years as chief ADA, I am personally familiar with the day-to-day demands and requirements to make the office function properly. Having grown up in Ogdensburg, I am an OFA graduate and summer resident in the county, and I stay current on the events surrounding the county.

During my 26 years as a prosecutor, I personally worked with Mary Rain when she was a police officer and then directly supervised her when she served as an assistant DA in our office. Mary was principally assigned felony case prosecutions. I witnessed first hand the skills she possessed as a prosecutor.

Describing her as hard working, highly motivated, honest, and driven to hold criminals accountable for wrongs committed against victim’s paints only a partial picture of her qualities. Mary’s police officer background made her excellent at working effectively with all police agencies to develop the facts necessary to prosecute tough criminal cases.

She was assigned and prosecuted all types of serious felony cases including homicides, sexually abused children, assaults, property crimes, gang related drug offenses and crimes involving violence. The case assignments were based upon her overall reliability in prosecuting cases. Mary demonstrated a philosophy of working “with” police to develop the evidence necessary to prosecute a case. She earned their respect and it is no surprise that the state trooper’s union has endorsed her for DA. She most definitely was a “hands on” and “go to the crime scene” type of prosecutor, which translated into a high conviction rate.

Mary also demonstrated a great compassion for crime victims and made a point of personally keeping victims up to date on where their case stood. She never had to tell a crime victim(s) that their case was dismissed because of her mishandling or ineffectiveness.

Mary was excellent as a jury trial prosecutor and demonstrated a high conviction rate. Juries loved her. She possessed the skills and drive to prove the tough cases. She was very successful in obtaining guilty verdicts in many challenging and evidentiarily difficult to prove felony cases. She will bring that same type of dedication and drive to all cases she prosecutes in the future.

I write this letter so the citizens of St. Lawrence County have a reliable and accurate description of the type of prosecutor Mary Rain has been in the past and would be in the future.

Donald H. Dodd

Ogdensburg

Retired Oswego County District Attorney