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NEW YORK, NEW YORK -(77WABC)- Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg reversing course—now saying New Yorkers were left with the wrong impression over his controversial Jan. 3 sentencing memo, saying he would not impose strict sentences on criminals except for homicides, or other cases involving death.
Bragg told a panel at New York University Law School that the policies in his memo merely offered guidelines.
He went further Monday and apologized during an interview with the Citizens Crime Commission. He called his memo “unclear” and “legalistic” and said it left many New Yorkers “justifiably concerned” with how his office will provide public safety.
“I take full responsibility for that confusion caused by the memo.” Paul DiGiacomo, president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association, described Bragg’s policies as “reckless and dangerous” in a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Bragg’s memo stated, “The office will not prosecute the following charges, unless as part of an accusatory instrument containing at least one felony count” and listed “resisting arrest” and “obstructing governmental administration in the second degree” among the charges not subject to prosecution.
Bragg said his memo produced confusion concerning how he intended to handle armed robberies and violence against police officers. He called both matters serious and said they will be prosecuted as felonies.
