Chief State’s Attorney’s Meeting

Minutes of the Meeting of July 11, 2022 

Office of the Chief State's Attorney, 300 Corporate Place, Rocky Hill, Connecticut

Also present: Deputy Chief State’s Attorney of Administration, Personnel and Finance John J. Russotto, Deputy Chief State’s Attorney, Inspector General Robert J. Devlin, Jr., State’s Attorneys Margaret E. Kelley (Ansonia/Milford), Joseph T. Corradino, (Fairfield), Sharmese L. Walcott (Hartford), Christian Watson (New Britain), John P. Doyle, Jr. (New Haven), Paul J. Narducci (New London), Paul J. Ferencek (Stamford/Norwalk), Maureen Platt (Waterbury), and Anne F. Mahoney (Windham).

Also Present: Executive Assistant State’s Attorneys Gail P. Hardy and Brett Salafia, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Timothy Sugrue, Legislative Liaison Melanie Dykas, Executive Secretary Marisa DePhillips, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Kathryn Bare, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney David Kutzner, Manager of Research and Planning Kyle Baudoin and Director of Communications Alaine Griffin.

State’s Attorney Narducci moved to accept the minutes of the May 2, 2022 meeting. State’s Attorney Mahoney seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Chief State’s Attorney Griffin welcomed the Honorable Patrick L. Carroll III, Chief Court Administrator, to the meeting for a presentation by Scot X. Esdaile, President of the Connecticut NAACP, and Carli Knox, Community Outreach Coordinator for the Connecticut NAACP about the “One Million Jobs Campaign,” an effort to keep people from going back to prison by giving them training and job availability after their release. Chief State’s Attorney Griffin said he believes the Division’s involvement in the program could help the NAACP get the word out about the campaign in all 13 Judicial Districts in Connecticut.

Following the Power Point presentation, Chief State’s Attorney Griffin thanked Mr. Esdaile and Ms. Knox for visiting the DCJ and discussing the “One Million Jobs Campaign.” He said the Division supports the campaign and is looking forward to assisting with it.

Deputy Chief State’s Attorney, Inspector General Devlin discussed a handout he provided about the work of the Inspector General’s Office, including their work on police-involved shootings and in-custody deaths. He urged the State’s Attorneys to contact his office if further guidance is needed about when the Office of the Inspector General gets involved in State Police investigations.

Chief State’s Attorney Griffin discussed a preamble written by Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Sugrue that was added to the final draft of the Division’s body-worn camera policy. Chief State’s Attorney Griffin thanked State’s Attorney’s Platt and Doyle, Executive Assistant State’s Attorney Salafia and Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Sugrue for their work, saying creation of the policy was a good example of how the State’s Attorneys and staff can pull together and come up with solutions.

State’s Attorney Platt also thanked her colleagues for assistance with creation of the policy, stating that the policy went through multiple revisions and rewrites. State’s Attorney Kelley then made a motion for a vote on the final draft of the policy with the preamble. State’s Attorney Narducci seconded the motion for a vote and it passed unanimously. Adoption of the policy then passed on a voice vote. Another motion was made by Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Russotto to accept the vote on the policy. State’s Attorney Narducci seconded the motion and the vote on the final draft was approved.

The State’s Attorneys also discussed the adoption of a Brady/Giglio Policy for the Division. Chief State’s Attorney Griffin said the policy was well-written and he lauded Senior Assistant State’s Attorneys Sugrue and Bare for their work on the policy. The State’s Attorneys agreed that the overall substance of the policy should be adopted but there was disagreement about whether to amend the policy to exclude the summary contained in the policy. Following a voice vote, the State’s Attorneys voted to maintain the policy with the Brady/Giglio summary points contained therein. State’s Attorney Corradino made a motion to accept the policy. State’s Attorney Platt seconded the motion and it passed on a voice vote.

In regard to Division of Criminal Justice COVID-19 issues, the State’s Attorneys inquired as to whether the State of Connecticut is still requiring employees to sign into and out of the office each day. Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Russotto said he would get clarification on the matter.

Regarding the budget, Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Russotto said Division employees are now seeing paychecks containing additional monies other than regular earnings due to negotiated union contracts, SEBAC 2022 and the E-item 2867 agreement. He said work on the budget is on track thanks to the work of Fiscal Administrative Manager Carolyn Phang. There was a brief discussion about including in the next budget request funding for the Early Screening and Intervention program in all of the Judicial Districts and staff to review the anticipated onslaught of body-cam and dashboard camera evidence expected in the wake of recently passed legislation requiring the technology for all police departments.

Regarding legislative matters, State’s Attorney Corradino reported that he is seeing more people with no privilege refusing to testify in court. He suggested that the Division consider legislation that gives the court greater ability to punish witnesses who refuse to testify.

In other business, Chief State’s Attorney Griffin discussed a handout created by Manager of Research and Planning Baudoin that highlights a large number of pending cases in each of the 13 Judicial Districts in light of the recent staffing challenges. He asked State’s Attorneys to suggest ways that the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney can assist in the handling of the pending cases and to compile a list of each District’s 25 oldest cases.

Chief State’s Attorney Griffin reported that the Criminal Justice Commission is considering options such as using smaller components of the Commission in additional monthly Commission meetings in the next few months to interview candidates for Deputy Assistant State’s Attorneys in an effort to address the vacancies. He added that the Commission would interview Deputy Assistant State’s Attorney candidates for the Fairfield Judicial District at their July 18 meeting.

Chief State’s Attorney Griffin said prosecutors from the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney would assist with work in the Judicial Districts while the Division is waiting to fill positions. State’s Attorneys and other prosecutors at the meeting discussed additional ideas on how to resolve the pending cases. Chief State’s Attorney Griffin commended the group for holding a productive discussion and for their original ideas on how to address the matter.

Chief State’s Attorney Griffin reported that the Division would create a Power Point presentation and memo in an effort to clarify any confusion about Connecticut’s red-flag laws, particularly the recent expansion of the law that allows family members and medical professionals to raise a “red flag” if they believe someone is at immediate risk of causing injury or death to themselves or others with a firearm.

Chief State’s Attorney Griffin said he recently assembled a working group of prosecutors to review prosecutorial standards and ethics policies in the Division, topics that would receive a more robust review with the selection of the new Director of the Office of Ethics and Professional Standards.

There being no further business, State’s Attorney Corradino made a motion to adjourn. State’s Attorney Ferencek seconded the motion and it passed without opposition. The meeting was adjourned at 2:55 p.m.