Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced today the following promotions in his Office:

Assistant District Attorney Mark Dwyer, currently the Chief of the Appeals Bureau, has been appointed Chief Assistant District Attorney.

Assistant District Attorney Leroy Frazer Jr., currently Executive Assistant District Attorney for Governmental Affairs and Community Affairs, has been appointed First Assistant District Attorney.

Assistant District Attorney Frederick J. Watts, currently Executive Assistant District Attorney for Finance and Administration, has been appointed Counsel to the District Attorney. Mr. Watts will continue serving as Executive Assistant District Attorney.

Assistant District Attorney Hilary Hassler, currently Deputy Chief of the Appeals Bureau, has been appointed Chief of the Appeals Bureau.
           
Assistant District Attorney Michael T. Dougherty, currently Deputy Administrative Assistant District Attorney, has been appointed Administrative Assistant District Attorney.

Mr. Morgenthau had previously appointed, but not publicly announced, the appointments of Assistant District Attorneys Audrey Moore and Kerry O’Connell as Co-Chiefs of the Family Violence and Child Abuse Bureau.

Mr. Dwyer joined the District Attorney’s Office Appeals Bureau in 1977 after graduating from Princeton University and receiving his law degree from Yale Law School. He has been the chief of the Appeals Bureau since 1985, and has also acted as Counsel to the District Attorney since 1998. Mr. Dwyer is a member of the New York court system’s Advisory Committee on Criminal Law and Procedure. He serves as well on the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Standards Committee and on the Executive Committee of the Criminal Justice Section of the state bar association, and is a co-author of West Publishing’s “New York Pretrial Criminal Procedure.”

Mr. Frazer joined the District Attorney’s Office in 1980 after graduating from Talladega College and receiving his law degree from Temple University School of Law.  He was assigned to Trial Bureau 80.  In 1989, he was appointed Deputy Bureau Chief of the Special Prosecutions Bureau and he was made Chief of that bureau in 1995.  In January 2007, he was appointed Executive Assistant District Attorney for Governmental Affairs and Community Relations. He also serves as Coordinator of the New York State Law Enforcement council. He is a member of the National District Attorney’s Association, the National Black Prosecutors Association and the New York City Bar Association, where he presently serves on its Criminal Justice Council.

Mr. Watts joined the District Attorney’s Office in 1983 after graduating from Brown University and receiving a law degree from Columbia University School of Law.   
He was assigned to the Trial Division. In 1990, he was promoted to Deputy Bureau Chief in the Trial Division, and in 1991, he also became Deputy Director of Legal Hiring, where he was responsible for the Summer Intern Program. In 1991, Mr. Watts was promoted to Deputy Administrative Assistant District Attorney, and Director of Legal Hiring. From 1996 to 2007, Mr. Watts served as the Administrative Assistant District Attorney. In 2007, Mr. Watts was promoted to Executive Assistant District Attorney for Finance and Administration.
           
Ms. Hassler joined the District Attorney’s Office in 1979 after graduating from the State University of New York at Albany and receiving a law degree from Brooklyn Law School. She was assigned to the Appeals Bureau, and in 1981, she joined the Trial Division. In 1987, she re-joined the Appeals Bureau as a Senior Appellate Attorney and then became Supervising Appellate Attorney. In 2000, she was appointed Deputy Bureau Chief. She was also a member of the Grand Jury Project, a commission formed by former Chief Judge Judith Kaye.  

Mr. Dougherty joined the District Attorney’s Office in 1997 after graduating from Cornell University and receiving his law degree from Boston University School of Law. He was assigned to the Trial Division and Sex Crimes Unit.  In 2002, Mr. Dougherty was appointed to the position of Criminal Court Supervisor. In 2006, he was appointed Deputy Chief of the Sex Crimes Unit. In 2007, Mr. Dougherty was appointed the Director of Legal Hiring and Deputy Administrative Assistant District Attorney. He is a member of the New York County Lawyers’ Association Committee on Law-Related Education and Public Service Awards Committee, and an adjunct professor at Fordham University. 

Ms. Moore joined the District Attorney’s Office in 1989 after graduating from Hamilton College and George Washington University Law School. She was assigned to the Trial Division and worked in the Domestic Violence Unit. She was Criminal Court Supervisor from 1996 to 1998. In 2000, Ms. Moore was appointed Deputy Bureau Chief of the Family Violence and Child Abuse Bureau.

Ms. O’Connell joined the District Attorney’s Office in 1985 after graduating from Vassar College and Fordham University School of Law. She was assigned to the Trial Division. She was appointed Senior Trial Counsel in 1998, and was a member of the Sex Crimes Unit from 1990 to 2009. Ms. O’Connell served briefly as the Acting Bureau Chief of the Family Violence and Child Abuse Bureau in 2005, and has returned to that bureau.

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