Connecticut Criminal Lawyer Blog

HARTFORD, Conn. - Almost a year after a deadly break-in that ended with the deaths of three members of a Cheshire family, a host of new criminal justice-related laws take effect on Tuesday.

Some of the legislation was passed during a special session of the General Assembly in January that was convened as a result of the deaths of 48-year-old Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11.

For example, there are changes to how the state's Board of Pardons and Paroles operates and the creation of a new criminal justice database.

Another new law sets aside nearly $10 million to boost staffing at criminal justice agencies. It will add correction and parole officers, more probation officers to monitor sex offenders and more staff for the state police major crime squads.

Funding also is available to expand a global positioning system (GPS) that monitors offenders on parole. And more alternative housing is provided for offenders.

"We cannot put a price on public safety, but these resources will go a long way to help ensure the security and peace of mind of the citizens of Connecticut," Gov. M. Jodi Rell, a Republican, said in a statement.

Two parolees are charged with capital felony and multiple murder, kidnapping, sexual assault and arson charges in connection with the July 23 killings of the Petit mother and daughters. Dr. William Petit was severely beaten, but survived.

Joshua Komisarjevsky, 27, of Cheshire, and Steven Hayes, 44 of Winsted, have both pleaded not guilty. The next court hearing is scheduled for July 18.

A new crime of "home invasion," which stems from the Cheshire incident, became effective on March 1.

Among other new laws that take effect on Tuesday:

- Extending eligibility for admission to the state's Veterans Home in Rocky Hill to veterans and current members of the armed forces who are entitled to retirement pay under federal law. They and their spouses also will be eligible for burial in the state veterans' cemeteries.

- Requiring the Department of Environmental Protection come up with regulations for a new recycling program for electronics equipment such as computers and TVs, which is scheduled to begin in 2009.

- Prohibiting public schools from issuing out-of-school suspensions. The new law also extends the maximum length of in-school suspensions from five to 10 days.

- Allowing local school boards to provide credit for a world-language course provided by a nonprofit organization if the student passes a proficiency test. The new law stems from a popular program in New Britain where students learn Polish after school.

- Requiring most cigarettes sold or offered for sale to consumers in Connecticut be fire-safe. They must be designed to be self-extinguishing.

- Allowing some parents who pursue higher education or employment to receive child care subsidies under the Department of Social Services' Care 4 Kids program. To be eligible, they must have incomes below 50 percent of the state's median income.

Associated Press
June 30, 2008

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NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Six of the 13 judges on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals have asked the nation's highest court to hear a reverse discrimination case filed by 20 New Haven firefighters, a move some legal observers are calling unusual.

The judges on the New York-based court said the case raises legal questions that may have national implications.

A three-judge panel of the court upheld a lower court's dismissal of the case earlier this month, which prompted an unsuccessful effort by other judges to have all 13 members of the court hear the case.

Nineteen white firefighters and one Hispanic firefighter sued the city in 2004. They said they would have been promoted if the city hadn't thrown out the results of two tests for lieutenant and captain because too few minorities scored high enough to move up in rank.

New Haven officials claimed the exams were unfair to minority firefighters and the city faced potential discrimination lawsuits if it went ahead with the promotions.

Scores on the exams indicated that no blacks would be promoted. Fourteen of the top 15 candidates for lieutenant and captain were white, based on scores.

The lawsuit, Ricci v. DeStefano, alleges the city violated the 20 firefighters' civil rights because the decision to scrap the exams was based on race.

The six judges who asked the Supreme Court to hear the case took no position on the merit of the firefighters' allegations. They did, however, take issue with what they called the three-judge panel's "tersely adopted" ruling.

"What is not arguable ... is the fact that this court has failed to grapple with the questions of exceptional importance raised in this appeal," said 2nd Circuit Judge Jose A. Cabranes.

Cabranes wrote the dissenting opinion signed by five other judges "in the hope that the Supreme Court will resolve the issues of great significance raised by the case."

The judges who supported dismissing the case claimed some of Cabranes' arguments were unfair and mistaken.

Judge Barrington D. Parker said the three-judge panel believed that New Haven federal Judge Janet Bond Arterton had provided a thoughtful and careful review of the firefighters' claims to the appeals court.

"Nothing more is required," he wrote.

Karen Torre, a lawyer for the firefighters, said the six judges' request to the U.S. Supreme Court was a significant development in a case that is important to first responders nationwide.

"No matter what the outcome of this case on its legal merits, the judges' call for full judicial review, in a responsible and transparent manner, has done much to help restore my clients' and the public's confidence in the courts," she said.

Central to the case is whether municipalities can disregard promotion exam results because they yielded too many qualified applicants of one race and not enough of another.

"It raises complicated, difficult issues that really have not yet been answered by any settled body of existing legal precedent," said Hartford attorney Steven Ecker, who specializes in appellate work.

Jessica Mayorga, a spokeswoman for New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, said the city does not comment on pending litigation.

The fact that the six dissenting 2nd Circuit judges have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case is unusual, but not unprecedented, said John Williams, a New Haven civil rights attorney.

"I think it's highly likely that Karen (Torre) is going to be going to Washington

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R. Kelly Not Guilty
By Rhonda Swan | Friday, June 13, 2008, 04:37 PM

A jury just acquitted R & B hit maker R. Kelly of child pornography, deciding he is innocent of videotaping himself having sex with an underage girl.

I think I’m the only person I know who hasn’t seen the video. Everyone I know who did swears it was him.

Clearly, the jury believed R’s defense that the man having sex with the 13-year-old girl couldn’t have been Kelley cause he didn’t have a mole on his back.

Kelly does.

“The truth be told, there is no mole … that means one thing,” Kelly’s lawyer told jurors. “It ain’t him. And if it ain’t him, you can’t convict.”

The jurors took the sex tape to the jury room where a monitor was set up so they could review it.

Over seven days presenting their case, prosecutors called 22 witnesses, including several childhood friends of the alleged victim and four of her relatives who identified her as the female on the video.

In two days, the Grammy winner’s lawyers called 12 witnesses. They included three relatives of the alleged victim who testified they did not recognize her as the female on the tape.

It took six years to get this far, but it’s finally over.

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DENVER -- A Texas judge today allowed parents to begin retrieving more than 400 children who were taken by the state during a raid on a polygamous sect's compound in April. Texas District Judge Barbara Walther issued the order in the wake of a state Supreme Court ruling last week that the state had overreached when it moved the children into protective custody. Officials fear sect members may flee Texas asks state justices to overturn polygamy sect ruling Texas had no right to seize sect children, appellate court says Walther on Friday had refused to sign an agreement between the state and attorneys for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that would have provided for the release of the children. She said it did not provide enough safeguards against the families fleeing the state.

The FLDS long ago broke away from the mainstream Mormon Church, which banned polygamy in 1890. The sect has about 10,000 members, mostly along the Utah-Arizona border. Its spiritual leader, Warren Jeffs, is serving a term of five years to life after being convicted last year in Utah of forcing a 13-year-old girl to marry her 19-year-old cousin.

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The use of code words by those involved with narcotics sales and distribution is common. How does the government prove, at trial, whether the code is actually a code? In addition, how does the government show the meaning of the code words?
The courts have long recognized that drug dealers seldom negotiate the terms of their transactions with the same clarity as business persons engaged in legitimate transactions. Drug dealers rarely speak openly about their trade; instead, they often engage in a so-called narcotics code. United States v. Cancelmo, 64. F.3d 804 (2d Cir.1995). Given the attempts of drug dealers to disguise the content of their discussions as legitimate subject matters, courts may allow witnesses to "decipher" the codes drug dealers use and testify to the true meaning of the conversations. Testimony about the meaning of alleged code is admissable as lay opinion testimony under Fed. R. Evid. 701.
In addition, an expert may provide testimony interpreting drug code words, but this is distinguishable from the lay person testimony. The point being, the government can attempt to prove the meaning of drug code words by eliciting testimony from a person who supposedly understood the code. As always, this is not a substitute for legal advice. Please consult with an attorney when charged with a crime.

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