Standing in the auditorium of the high school he graduated from nearly 40 years ago on Sunday, Raymond Tierney pledged as the newly elected Suffolk County District Attorney to prosecute cases “fairly and aggressively”.
Tierney, who campaigned for the promise to stand up for the repeal of state bail reform laws, made no mention of these efforts in his opening address at St. Anthony’s High School in South Huntington, his alma mater. Rather than addressing specific initiatives, he focused on equity and the importance of the job.
“Everyone wants the same thing from their prosecutor,” Tierney told the crowd of several hundred who had gathered for the event. “They want their communities and their families, their children, to be safe. They want their quality of life to improve and they want to be treated fairly. They want to have confidence in their prosecutor and they want to know that everyone will have access to justice and we will. “
A Holtsville career attorney, Tierney, 56, highlighted the hard campaign work of his family and his supporters to get him selected for a job he was supposedly born to do.
Tierney, with the backing of Republicans and Conservatives, defeated incumbent Democrat Timothy Sini in the November elections in the first term. Sini, 41, of Babylon, served since 2018, previously serving as the Suffolk County Federal Prosecutor and Police Commissioner.
During his 26 years as a district attorney, Tierney served with the Suffolk County District Attorney, the Eastern US Federal Supreme Court, and the Brooklyn District Attorney. In February, he left the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office to work as Chief Counsel for Compliance and Enforcement at Off-Track Betting Corp. from Suffolk County to be.
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Hector LaSalle, presiding judge of the state appeals division for the second judicial division, took the oath of office to Tierney, who stood by his side with his wife, Erica. LaSalle praised Tierney’s moral character and emphasized his humility and empathy.
“It’s incredibly important to have a person willing to sit down and listen to people – not just witnesses, not just victims – but also defendants, defense lawyers, judges and the public,” said LaSalle. “This lack of arrogance, this humility … will make Ray one of the best prosecutors Suffolk County has ever had.”
In the afternoon, Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind” was played on the piano; a blessing from leaders of various faiths, including Kevin Shakil of America’s Islamic Radio; and a performance by the Eastern Long Island Police Pipes and Drums.
No politician has spoken on behalf of Tierney, a self-proclaimed “political neophyte”. Speakers instead included friends such as lawyer Douglas D. von Oiste, who many years ago worked alongside Tierney in the Suffolk Public Prosecutor’s Office.
“Ray is a prosecutor with the prosecution,” said von Oiste. “He’s not a guy who pushed paper in the back room.”
“He is a man whose behavior depends on goodwill and decency.”
Vera Chinese joined Newsday in 2017 and covers the cities of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island. She is from Long Island and has been reporting on East End issues for 10 years.
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