Staten Island Prosecutor Charged with DWI

Staten Island prosecutor, whose job includes trying drunk drivers, charged with DWI
Staten Island Live by Peter N. Spencer - September 3, 2010

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Staten Island assistant district attorney who often prosecutes defendants for drunk driving is now facing those charges himself. Richmond County Assistant District Attorney Craig Trainor was charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated in Midtown Manhattan early this morning. Police said the 33-year-old Castleton Corners resident was speeding and changing lanes without using a signal before he was pulled over on the corner of West 44th Street and 12th Avenue at around 3:15 a.m. Assistant District Attorney Craig Trainor was arrested this morning for allegedly driving drunk. Trainor was also charged with refusing to take a Breathalyzer test at the scene and after he was arrested and taken to the 7th Precinct station house. He is expected to be arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court today. Beside facing significant fines, jail time and the loss of his driver's license for at least a year, Trainor may also lose his job. District Attorney Daniel Donovan suspended Trainor without pay immediately, pending the outcome of the case. "Obviously, these are very serious allegations. Due to the prosecution being conducted by the Manhattan D.A., we cannot comment further at this time," William J. Smith, a spokesman for the prosecutor, wrote in a statement. Trainor, a graduate of Moore Catholic High School in Graniteville and the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America, Washington D.C., joined Donovan's staff last August. He was assigned to Criminal Court in Stapleton, handling misdemeanor cases, which include drunk driving charges. Before working for the D.A.'s office, Trainor was a law clerk to Chief Judge Frederick J. Scullin, Jr. of the U.S. District Court in upstate New York; and was an associate at the Manhattan law firm of DeFeis, O'Connell & Rose for three years. His arrest is no doubt an embarrassment for Donovan, who has gained a reputation as one of the toughest prosecutors of drunk-drivers in the state. During his tenure, the Island not only has led the city in drunk driving convictions, but has had the highest percentage of those convicted receive jail sentences. Trainor is still being held in a Manhattan cell. It is unclear what he was doing in Manhattan, though he did work on the Island yesterday, sources confirm.