Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley is facing a recommendation that she be publicly censured after she was pulled over by Webster police last year.

The state's newly created Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct released its findings on Tuesday following a traffic stop recorded by a police body camera on April 22, 2024. The commission's report alleges Doorley "failed to comply with a lawful traffic stop and used the power of her office as district attorney for her own benefit" while being "belligerent and hostile towards the patrol officer." 

The footage prompted Gov. Kathy Hochul to refer the incident to the commission. The commission said Doorley cooperated with the investigation and she acknowledged public censure was warranted. Doorley was served with a formal complaint in May of this year.

Despite the findings in the commission's report, there are still questions surrounding Doorley's future as district attorney.

The concurring opinion at the end of the report, written by Commissioner Amy Marion, says as a result of the findings, Doorley will be leaving office:

"I agree with the commission’s conclusion that the stipulated facts demonstrate respondent’s misconduct. I write separately to articulate that I join in the commission’s recommendation of the sanction of a public censure because the respondent represented under oath that she will be vacating her position as District Attorney. Commissioners Botticelli, Griffin, and Loigman join in this opinion."

In Doorley's deposition as part of the commission's report released Tuesday, she said she was working on leaving the office. 

"I know it's time for me to go," Doorley said in part in her official deposition. "I'm just looking for the best transition for the next person to take over. I think it's time that there is — that there should be a new DA. So I would just — I would ask you just let me ride off into the sunset. I've already sold my house in Webster. We bought a house in South Carolina."

"I just want to go away," Doorley said in another part of the deposition. "I want the community to know that I'm sorry. I want to protect the integrity of the office. And I just want to — I just want I want to go away. And I wish you'd just let me — let me retire."

However, Doorley issued a statement on Tuesday saying she looks forward to continuing to serve.

"I am content that the commission has concluded its investigation by recommending the censure I have sought since this process commenced. Additionally, I am gratified that the commission's thorough investigation afforded me equitable and professional treatment. I look forward to continuing to serve the people of Monroe County."

When asked for clarification, Doorley's attorney, Robert Masters, issued this statement:

"Simply stated, today is not a day to discuss any future plans regarding Sandra's prospective retirement. She will be certain to alert the public of any future plans at the appropriate time. 

"Rather, it is appropriate that deference and respect be shown for the process engaged in by the Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct, which resulted in the imposition of the sanction that I recommended  from the outset of the investigation into this regrettable episode.  

"I recommend a careful review of the entire record of the commission's thorough investigation, for it provides meaningful context to the events of April 22, 2024." 

This is the Commission of Prosecutorial Conduct's first case to be adjudicated and announced publicly.

“She came in, she sat for a deposition [and] her attorney timely responded to all request from the commission," Acting Director of Investigations of the State Commission of Prosecutorial Conduct Susan Friedman said. 

Doorley, representing the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office since 2012, has a record that includes most recently personally and successfully prosecuting the trials of the murder of Rochester Police Officer Anthony Mazurkiewicz and the 40-year-old axe murder killing of Cathy Krauseneck.

Yet now the commission offering up a decision that Doorley should be publicly censured for the events that unfolded during the traffic stop incident.

“And in this matter, she agreed that a public censure is the appropriate sanction," Friedman said. "And what's really important about that is that when the chief law enforcement officer of the jurisdiction creates an appearance that they are above the law, confidence in the system is undermined. So here by District Attorney Doorley acknowledging that her conduct violated the rules of professional conduct, it goes a long way in demonstrating that she's being held accountable for that conduct and helping to repair some of the harm that was caused by her initial conduct."

Friedman says her office has not recommended Doorley step down.

"I have not said that," Friedman said. "And we we have not made that recommendation. Our recommendation for the commissioner’s recommendation is a public censure for District Attorney Doorley.”

Friedman says her office's goal is transparency and has an online complaint portal for complaints against prosecutors.

“Which is a place where members of the public can submit complaints to us about conduct that they are concerned about," she said.

Since the portal opened less than two years ago, it has received nearly 300 complaints.

For the next next step for the Doorley case, the commission has forwarded its findings to the Attorney Grievance Committee for the Fourth Judicial Department, which will consider their findings and recommendations.