NEW YORK- Megan McDonald’s mother and sister on Monday filed formal attorney disciplinary complaints against Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler and five other attorneys, including his predecessor, Frank Phillips, with the Attorney Grievance Committee for New York’s Ninth Judicial District.
In addition, individual disciplinary complaints were filed against Chief Assistant District Attorney Christopher Borek, Assistant District Attorneys Leah Canton and Richard Moran, and Stewart Rosenwasser, Hoovler’s Special Counsel for Policy, Research, and Development. The complaints, filed on behalf of Betty Jo McDonald and her daughter, Karen Whalen, by attorney John P. Beatty cite Hoovler’s “unethical” and “possibly criminal” conduct in the Megan McDonald investigation.
“Megan’s family will continue to hold accountable all those who have harmed her in life and in death and will never stop fighting in their pursuit of Justice for Megan,” Beatty wrote in a news release.
In February, Hoovler responded to accusations of impropriety stating, “Any suggestion that I did anything to interfere with the investigation into Megan McDonald’s death is as categorically false as it is offensive.”
The complaint accuses Hoovler of possible criminal conduct in 2022 when he allegedly advised McDonald’s accused killer, Edward Holley, that he was the State Police’s prime suspect in her murder. The complaint also alleges that he warned Holley that police were listening to his phone calls and offered him a plea deal behind the back of investigators. Holley has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with McDonald’s death in 2003 in the Town of Wallkill.
Beatty stated that after becoming District Attorney in 2014, Hoovler refused to recuse himself from McDonald’s murder investigation, despite repeated calls to do so. Hoovler did eventually recuse himself from the case and a special prosecutor has been assigned.
The Attorney Grievance Committee investigates complaints against lawyers and can censure, reprimand, and suspend licenses to practice law.
