NORRISTOWN >> During a brief ceremony attended by colleagues, friends and family, two new law enforcement officials took their oaths of office on Friday to join the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
Edward F. McCann Jr., a former Philadelphia prosecutor, was sworn-in as first assistant district attorney, and will be second-in-command in the office that is led by District Attorney Kevin R. Steele.
Todd N. Barnes, flanked by his proud father, Dennis, was sworn-in as an assistant district attorney and will work in the appellate division.
Judge Risa Vetri Ferman administered the oaths of office to the two men, who smiled proudly, and Steele officially handed them their badges during a ceremony where they were greeted by thunderous applause from spectators.
“We are very pleased to have them joining us today and the great team that we have in the office,” Steele said.
McCann, who will be paid $105,000 a year as the office’s second-in-command, comes to the office with 26 years of trial and administrative experience, most recently as first assistant district attorney in Philadelphia.
McCann, whose tenure with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office dates to 1989, left that office in November. A 1989 graduate of Temple Law School, McCann previously served as deputy of the trials division in the Philadelphia office and for seven years was the chief of the homicide unit.
Ferman, who was elected judge in November after serving eight years as district attorney, said while she was a prosecutor she also worked closely with McCann while in his Philadelphia role.
“Ed became my go-to guy. For about 12 years he was one of those people who if I had a question I could call. If I needed to talk through something he was one of my point guys and he gave me great guidance and great advice,” Ferman said, adding McCann possesses the three main traits “that prosecutors need to have.”
“He is first and foremost a man of integrity. You can trust him and that’s critically important. He is second, a constant professional. He knows how to do the job, how to run an investigation, how to run a trial, how to deal with the press. Every aspect of the job he knows how to do. And third, he’s just a genuinely decent guy,” Ferman added.
Steele previously noted that McCann, while in Philadelphia, oversaw the long-term grand jury investigation and prosecution of nine defendants in the 2006 starvation death of 14-year-old Danieal Kelly, a disabled girl who was just 46 pounds when she died.
Barnes, who had been working as a special assistant attorney in the appellate division since Dec. 28, 2015, previously served in the Office of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 2013 to 2015 as a staff attorney for Justice Ronald Castille and Justice Thomas Saylor.
Barnes’ father, Dennis, held the Bible as Barnes took his oath. Barnes’ wife, his aunt and two friends also were present for the happy occasion and congratulated him with hugs afterward.
Barnes also previously served as a chief judicial clerk for Judge Johnny Butler of the Commonwealth Court and as a judicial clerk for Justice James Fitzgerald, according to Steele. Barnes, formerly an associate for five years with the Blue Bell office of the Elliott Greenleaf law firm, has a law degree from Temple University and an undergraduate degree in criminal justice from Kutztown University.
