St. Hilaire Statement

7/26/2019 St. Hilaire Statement

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June 8, 2016

To NY State Senators and Members of the Assembly:

Today, you debate a Bill which would create a STATE COMMISSION ON

PROSECUTORIAL CONDUCT.

My name is Karen St. Hilaire and for eight years I served as Administrator of

St. Lawrence County.

As part of this debate, I have been asked to tell you about my experiences as

County Administrator of St. Lawrence County in connection with the actions

of our District Attorney Mary E. Rain.

Ms. Rain was hired by St. Lawrence County in June 2009 as the Public

Defender.

During her first 18 months there were numerous complaints of harassment, sexual

harassment, failure to discharge her duties, and abuse of staff. After numerous

counseling sessions with Ms. Rain by myself and the Director of Human

Resources, it was determined that she was not fit to manage the office.

Upon my recommendation, the Board of Legislators, in March in of 2011, removed

her from all administrative duties and put in place her Deputy to manage the office.

She continued to serve as an attorney in the Public Defenders officebut it was

obvious that this was not going to work. Seven months later she was offered the

opportunity to resign in lieu of the County bringing charges against her and a

negotiated settlement was put in place.


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Two years later, Ms. Rain ran for and was elected to the position of District

Attorney. She took office in January of 2014.

Immediately after taking office, sherequested new expanded space for herself

andher staff which would have cost the County $750,000. Given the Countys

weak financial position, there was much opposition to thisby myself, some

legislators, and department heads who would be displaced.

On June 30th, 2014, six months after taking office, Ms. Rain delivered to

my office a letter alleging possible criminal actson my part and stating

that she was intending to convene aGrand Jury to investigate these acts.

Specifically, she alleged "misappropriation of funds" forthepurchase of a

sound system for the Board of LegislatorsChambers which was purchased in

2013,prior to Ms. Rain being sworn in as DA,withprosecutor 's funds

approved by then District AttorneyNicole Duve.

Ms. Rain also alleged that there was criminal" nonfeasance " on my part for

not applying for funds for her department for a Victims Advocates grant

although neither I nor my office wasever involved in the process of applying

for these grants, nor werewe made aware of when these grantswere

available.

Her letter further stated: Prel imi nar y r eview has un cover ed

addi t i onal acts const i tu t in g closer scru t in y un der (CPL ) 190.05 of

other department h eads and th ey wil l be the target of thor ough and

vigorous investigations.


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This was viewed by myself and department heads as a direct

retaliation for opposition to her space requests and was vague

about which department heads had committed the acts requiring

closer scrutiny.

Upon the advice of the County Attorney, I discontinued all meetings

where the Department Heads would be in contact with Ms. Rain as we

were unsure what actions or what department heads she was

investigating and did not want to put them in a compromising

position .

Following the delivery of her June 30th

letter advising me that she was

conducting a Grand Jury, Ms. Rain, began a very public media campaign

aimed destroying my reputation and insinuating that I had broken thelaw.

In violation of the secrecy of the grandjury process , shepublicly stated that

I was the targetof her investigation and discussed how shebelieved I was

guiltyof charges which were yet to be clearly defined.

On the same day that she delivered the letter, Ms. Rain attended a

Democratic caucus at the home of the Party Chairman, although she was a

Republican and her attendance violated the Open Meetings law since a


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quorum of the board was present.

It was reported to meby two County Legislators who were in attendance

that Ms. Raininformed them that she had sent me a letter saying she

was convening a Grand Jury action and I was her target.

It was reported by these same legislators that Ms. Rain discussed thepossibility

of dropping the Grand Jury investigation for a favorable vote by the

Legislators on her choice of new space. It was after this attempted extortion,

that the two legislators left the meeting and reported the details to me.

One week later, Ms. Rain served myself, the County Attorney, the

Purchasing Agent, the Treasurer and the IT Director with subpoenas

demanding 10 years of records on any purchases made from the

Prosecutors Funds.

Dozens of boxes of documents were delivered to the Grand Jury and two

years later there is no word on what, if any, action was or has been taken. The

subpoenas hang out there as a veiled threat to all named.

The expense to comply with copying and delivering 10 years of documents to

the Grand Jury for her investigation into the purchase of the $12,000 sound

system exceeded $47,000 in tax payer money.

It is my belief that Mary Rain misused the Grand Jury proceeding and

issued these subpoenas to get even with and threaten those she viewed


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had wronged her by removing her from her previous position and

disagreed with her request for additional space.

From that date forward, she used this opportunity as a media campaign,

issuing almost daily press releases, interviews, and press conferences where

she, on numerous occasions, discussed her belief that I was guilty of crimes

and the target of her investigation thus, violating all restrictions on the

secrecy of the Grand Jury process.

Ms. Rains attempt to damage my reputation is well documented in the press.

In addition to the public campaign, she also undertook an internal

campaign to malign me and undermine my authority with the staff of the

District Attorneys Office.

I was made aware of this undercurrent by a staff attorney who departed the

DAsoffice and requested an exit interview. The attorney subsequently filed a

lawsuit against the County for sexual harassment and creation of a hostile work

environment. She reported (and it was confirmed by other staff members) that

Ms. Rain held several staff meetings where she made graphically sexually

offensive remarks about me engaging in acts with the County Attorney, told

staff that I was stalking her, and indicated I was obsessed with her and she

needed protection.

In July of 2014, I filed a complaint with the Committee on Professional

Standards with the Third Department detailing all incidents and accusing Ms.


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Rain of unethical (and possible illegal) actions and asked for an investigation

into this matter.

The response I received was that this was not a matter for the Third Departments

review and they referred me to the Public Integrity Bureau of the New YorkState Attorney Generals Office.

I submitted a letter to this Bureau listing the facts as I have presented them to

you today and as I reported them to the Third Department.

The Attorney Generals Officesent me a letter acknowledging that they had

received my complaint and assigning the case a number for me to use in any

further correspondence on this matter. That was two years ago next month. I haveheard nothing from them since that time.

In March of 2015, I retired from County Government and left Ms. Rain and

her legacy of questionable behavior behind. Since that time:

Cases continue to be dismissed in St. Lawrence County because of actions or

failure to take action on her part. Fourteen attorneys have come and gone from that office in her two-year

tenure.

Legislators have passed a vote of no confidence in Ms. Rainand asked theGovernor to investigate her office with the eye to removing her from office.

The County residents have lost faith in their ability to find justice in thisCounty and still there have been no consequences for Ms. Rain.

I was asked to come here today to testify about this matter but chose not to because

I have spent enough time and energy on Ms. Rain and I have moved on.

I now teach courses such as professional ethics at SUNY Canton and feel this is a

much better use of my time.


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Will another Commission make a difference to St. Lawrence County or any other

County where an out of control prosecutor has the power to ruin lives?

I dont know.

I only know that the system as it stands today has been ineffective and the people

of my County deserve better.

Thank you.

Karen St. Hilaire

Documents

St. Hilaire Statement