By JODI SOKOLOWSKI
Buffalo Law Journal

Reading a prepared statement and not taking questions, Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark confirmed at a Monday afternoon press conference that he will not run for re-election in the fall.

A weekend episode of illness was the deciding factor, said Clark, 65, who suffers from lupus.

"There always comes a time when you have to say goodbye, and this is the time," he said at Monday afternoon's press conference. He said the disease, which attacks the immune system, is exacerbated by stress. Even though his last flare-up, which coincided with the county budget crisis and his mother's death, was in 2005, his doctors advised him that his health could be in jeopardy if he continued his campaign.

"I thought that this could be something that I could handle, but my doctors told me that I was wrong," he said. "If I continue on the path (of) running this office and running a campaign, I (run) a risk that it could get out of control."

Defense attorney Paul Cambria, a partner with Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria LLP, said he was surprised by the news because just over the weekend, when they spoke on the phone, Clark told him he was "raring to go as far as becoming the district attorney again."

"He was full engines ahead. There were no hints at all," Cambria said, adding, "He'll be missed. He's a very colorful character and extremely successful as a prosecutor."

Clark was first elected as district attorney in 1996, beating Russell Buscaglia, who is now a state Supreme Court justice. In 2000, Clark, a Democrat, ran virtually unopposed after locking the Republican Party nod. Both major parties backed Clark when he ran in 2004.

Already securing the endorsements of the Democratic and Conservative parties, Clark was expected to earn the GOP nod again this year.

He said his making the announcement now allows the political parties and potential candidates time to regroup.

"(It) frees them up to endorse somebody who they feel is worthy of filling the chair that I'm leaving, and they will have an opportunity to run a fully complete campaign," he said.

Cambria said Assistant District Attorney Frank Sedita III is likely to replace Clark.

Kenneth Case, a former assistant district attorney who had been running against him for the Democratic primary, said Clark's decision "obviously changes the landscape."

"When I was running against Frank Clark, I had a known record to work with. Now I don't know who's going to step forward, how many are going to step forward and what their track record is," said Case, who is now in private practice.

Defense attorney Terry Connors, a partner in Connors & Vilardo, said he's heard that Hon. Thomas Franczyk, a former Buffalo City court judge who recently moved up to the Erie County Court, may come off the bench to run for the office.

Republican and Democratic party leaders did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Clark has come under fire in the past year for reversals that led to the release of Anthony Capozzi and Lynn DeJac, both of whom had been in jail for years on murder convictions but were exonerated by DNA evidence and testing.

Cambria said Clark's legacy of a "vigorous, even-handed, conservative prosecutor" will not be overshadowed by those cases.

"I don't think you can hang that DeJac albatross around his neck, because he was at the mercy of medical examiners. It was largely a matter of expert testimony," Cambria said.

"He's a prosecutor with integrity and a man who tries to do the right thing," said Connors. "People like Frank Clark make the system work."

Having held a job since age 9, when he sold newspapers, Clark said it'll be difficult stepping back, but he wants to continue working in the legal arena. He plans to teach law, he said, "so I can pass on to others all the lessons that I've learned in all my years here."

"I'm Irish and I'm a Marine, and I'll continue on," he said.

Business First reporter James Fink contributed to this report.