Letters: A response to the Daily News article on the D.A.'s office

IREAD WITH dismay your recent story (

"Split at the Top in D.A. Office?"

) and my tenure there as first assistant district attorney.

The story, relying exclusively on anonymous sources, presented a terribly inaccurate picture of the office, was unfair to the overwhelming majority of prosecutors who work there and was even more unfair to the district attorney.

There was none of the "simmering tension" described in the article, nor did anything "come to a boil." Instead, after a year-and-a- half during which the only person who put in longer hours than I did was the district attorney, I needed to deal with some personal matters, and to consider my role as an administrator versus my satisfaction in a courtroom setting.

I like and respect the district attorney, and neither of us ever lost sight of the paramount goal of making the office and the justice system work to its fullest to provide justice to the citizens of Philadelphia.

Every action taken by the district attorney or myself was with that goal in mind. I think the truth of that is visible in the results - a restructured office and Criminal Justice Center, neighborhood-based prosecutions, a completely revamped charging unit, faster and better dispositions of cases, a reduced prison population while crime is still down, and real outreach to the community the D.A.'s office serves. Those are the marks of hard work and the district attorney's vision, not "simmering tensions."

Finally, those who won't use their names but who will demean their colleagues in the press are just wrong. It is also wrong to describe actions, inaccurately, that were never seen, or that never even occurred, or to purport to read my mind. It's not surprising that a reporter was able to find three or four people in an office of more than 300 prosecutors who would anonymously express their dissatisfactions - that's about par for even the best of institutions, perhaps even in heaven.

It is surprising, however, that an article would be given such prominence. The District Attorney's Office and the district attorney deserve better.

I am proud to have been an assistant district attorney, proud of what was accomplished there, and proud to have worked for Seth Williams. And I'll attach my name to my words.

Joseph E. McGettigan III

Philadelphia

nolead begins

A diabetic woman is apparently suing Dunkin' Donuts because she said the server put sugar in her coffee instead of an artificial sweetener.

But as far as I know, the server never puts sweetener in coffee; the customer does.

Also, the story reported that the woman said she went into diabetic shock. I've been a diabetic for 40 years, and the only time you go into shock is when your sugar drops too low; then you need sugar to bring your blood sugar back up.

Did the woman also try to sell Dunkin' Donuts the Brooklyn Bridge?

George J. Walton

Upper Darby