Recently in the local news, I watched the body camera footage of the Monroe County NY District Attorney getting a traffic ticket. During the video she exclaims to go ahead and write the ticket because she is the one that prosecutes it (I presumed she was implying she would make it go away).
Can DA's handle their own traffic violations?
No, in the case of a conflict of interest, a special prosecutor would be appointed to handle the matter. Most likely, this would be the DA of an adjoining county.
In New York, this special district attorney is appointed by the superior criminal court (NY Cty L ยง 701).
This frequently happens in a more mundane situation: when a new DA is elected. As they have almost always practiced law beforehand, they run into cases and clients they have defended in the past.
