The Criminal Justice Commission met on Thursday, May 6, 2010, at the Office of the Chief State's Attorney in Rocky Hill for the purpose of interviewing five candidates for the appointment of Deputy Assistant State's Attorney for the Judicial District of Tolland, G.A. No. 19, and five candidates for appointment of Deputy Assistant State's Attorney for the New Haven Judicial District, G.A. No. 23, and any other business.

The following members were present:  Justice Richard N. Palmer, Chairman, Judge Thomas A. Bishop, Attorney Maura H. Horan, Attorney Garrett M. Moore, Attorney Ann G. Taylor and Chief State's Attorney Kevin T. Kane.  Also present were Matthew C. Gedansky, State's Attorney, David J. Strollo, Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney, and Patricia Alston, the Commission's Equal Employment Opportunity Specialist.

The meeting, open to the public, commenced at approximately 9:30 a.m.  A motion was made by Attorney Horan to accept the minutes of the January 7, 2010, meeting.  The motion was seconded by Attorney Moore and approved unanimously. A discussion ensued regarding the joint training symposium sponsored by the Racial and Ethnic Disparity Commission, the Criminal Justice Commission, the Division of Criminal Justice and the Office of the Chief Public Defender on implicit bias and eyewitness identification issues; the need for meetings in the near future to fill another vacancy in the New Haven Judicial District, G.A. No. 23, and possibly Norwalk; and the expiration of terms on June 30, 2010, of four State's Attorneys and the Deputy Chief State's Attorney for Administration, Personnel and Finance.

At 9:50 a.m., the Commission then took up the vacancy of the Deputy Assistant State's Attorney for the Tolland Judicial District, G.A. No. 19, and interviewed the following attorneys:  Nedra Abbruzzese-Werling, Nichelle A. Brooks, Karen A. Roberg, Thomas J. Sousa, Jr. and Elizabeth S. Tanaka.  Attorney Roberg applied for and was a finalist for both the Tolland and New Haven openings; this interview served for both positions.

At approximately 12:00 p.m., Attorney Moore moved that the Commission go into executive session to discuss the appointment to the above-mentioned position. The motion was seconded by Judge Bishop and passed unanimously.

Following the executive session, the Commission resumed its public meeting at approximately 12:30 p.m. The Commission then took up the vacancy of the Deputy Assistant State's Attorney for the New Haven Judicial District, G.A. No. 23, and interviewed the following attorneys:  Laura Deleo, Jennifer Borges Lindade, Adrienne L. Machiulewski and Steven R. Slattery.

At approximately 1:50 p.m., Attorney Taylor moved that the Commission go into executive session to discuss the appointment of the above-mentioned position.  The motion was seconded by Attorney Horan and passed unanimously.

At 2:00 p.m. the Commission came out of executive session and Attorney Horan moved that Attorney Karen Roberg be appointed Deputy Assistant State's Attorney for the New Haven Judicial District, G.A. No. 23.  The motion was seconded by Attorney Taylor and passed unanimously.

Attorney Taylor moved that Attorney Nichelle Brooks be appointed Deputy Assistant State's Attorney for the Tolland Judicial District, G.A. No. 19.  The motion was seconded by Attorney Horan and passed unanimously.

At approximately 2:05 p.m., the meeting was adjourned.

Kevin T. Kane, Esq.
Secretary, Criminal Justice Commission