Confessions of a Hayseed DA - Paperback

by Robert R. Meehan (Author), Kathleen Meehan Do (Editor)

An idealistic, occasionally naïve and somewhat irreverent young attorney becomes the District Attorney of Rockland County, New York, in the 1960s and faces the challenges of fighting crime in a rapidly changing world.

In the 1960s, the small county of Rockland, north of New York City, went through a period of rapid expansion. Although beneficial, this explosive growth also led to the unwelcome encroachment of crime like the county had never seen before. Enter Robert Meehan, a young, idealistic defense attorney who hatched an impossible scheme to become the first Democrat elected District Attorney of Rockland County in more than half a century. In this compelling page-turner, Meehan takes us through his journey from naive do-gooder to seasoned prosecutor, investigating and solving heinous crimes and surviving an attempt on his life that upended his family's world. This manuscript, completed in 1978, was discovered by Meehan's daughter years after his passing. She has edited the text, researched cases cited by her father, and interviewed some of the key players whose names appear within these pages.

Author Biography

Robert R. Meehan (1930-2004) was District Attorney of Rockland County, New York from 1965 to 1974. He later served as New York State Special Assistant Attorney General for Medicaid Fraud and as Rockland County and New York State Supreme Court Judge until his retirement in 2000. Kathleen Meehan Do is a communications specialist who has served in the administrations of New York Governor Mario M. Cuomo, Pennsylvania Congressman Joseph Sestak, and Rockland County Legislature Chairwoman Harriet Cornell, as well as college presidents in New York and New Jersey.