Office of the State's Attorney Judicial District of New Britain
Our Mission
As prosecutors we are all employed by the Division of Criminal Justice and not the Division of Prosecution. We are firm believers that as ministers of justice we are duty bound to seek the truth and to ensure that the rights of everyone are equally protected.
We as prosecutors are obligated to consider and weigh many competing interests in the decisions we make daily. Those decisions have an enormous impact on the lives of the people and the communities we serve; they impact liberty, rights, livelihoods, and families. Our main objective as a prosecutor is to ensure the justice is done no matter the consequences. We are all as equally proud of the cases we have chosen not to prosecute as the ones that we have.
We have all been presented with this unique opportunity to serve the citizens of the communities that are within the New Britain Judicial District. As such, we will strive to do everything within our control to ensure that the New Britain State’s Attorney’s Office continues to serve as a benchmark for fellow prosecutors and an institution that strives to guarantee that no persons’ rights are compromised.
Welcome to the Office of the State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of New Britain.
The New Britain State’s Attorney’s Office is on the first floor of the New Britain Superior Court, which is located at 20 Franklin Square, New Britain, CT 06051.
The New Britain State’s Attorney’s Office is responsible for the prosecution of all criminal and motor vehicle offenses which occur in the communities of Berlin, Bristol, Burlington, New Britain, Newington, Plainville, Plymouth, Rocky Hill, Southington, Wethersfield, and Central Connecticut State University. The New Britain Judicial District has approximately 315,000 people living within it.
Every on-site arrest or arrest warrant that is issued by the respective law enforcement agency in the above stated communities are brought to the New Britain State’s Attorney’s Office at the New Britain Superior Court. Once these matters are brought to the New Britain State’s Attorney’s Office a careful decision is made to determine whether the matter should be prosecuted.
The New Britain State’s Attorney’s Office is comprised of the Judicial District of New Britain (Part A), Geographical Area #15 (Part B), Juvenile, and Housing.
The Part A (New Britain Judicial District) portion of the office is responsible for the prosecution of felony offenses that range from murder, arson, robbery, sexual assault, child pornography, a variety of others, and any case that involves the death of another. There are currently five prosecutors, four inspectors, one secretary, and one paralegal assigned to Part A. The cases in Part A are vertically assigned to a prosecutor and inspector, meaning the prosecutor and inspector assigned the case work together and oversee it throughout the entire criminal process. Our secretary and paralegal are vital members of Part A. They are responsible for obtaining all of the discovery in every Part A criminal case and maintain all of our criminal files.
The five prosecutors that are assigned to Part A are: State’s Attorney Christian Watson, Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Helen McLellan, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney David Clifton, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Sara Greene, and Assistant State’s Attorney Abby Marchinkoski. The four inspectors, who are sworn law enforcement officers with arrest powers, are: Supervisory Inspector Jerry Chrostowski, Inspector Felix Perez, Inspector Rohon, and Inspector Edward Apicella.
The Part B (Geographical Area #15) portion of the office is responsible for the prosecution of every felony, misdemeanor, and motor vehicle offense that is not transferred to Part A. The crimes that are prosecuted in Part B range from assault, burglary, larceny, identity theft, operating under the influence, and a variety of other felonies and misdemeanors. There are currently eight prosecutors, three investigators, four secretaries, and one paralegal assigned to Part B. The cases in Part B are not vertically assigned to an individual prosecutor as the vast number of cases on a daily basis do not support that method of prosecution.
The eight prosecutors that are assigned to Part B are: Supervisory State’s Attorney Mary Rose Palmese, Assistant State’s Attorney Justin Blain, Assistant State’s Attorney Thai Chhay, Deputy Assistant State’s Attorney Eamon Donovan, Assistant State’s Attorney Sarah Fallon, Assistant State’s Attorney Devant Joiner, Assistant State’s Attorney Alison Kubas, and Deputy Assistant State’s Attorney Lakshmi Swami.
If you wish to know if the adult criminal case that you are a defendant in, or a victim of, is being prosecuted in Part A or Part B you can do that in two easy ways: (1) access the Connecticut Judicial website at https://www.jud2.ct.gov/crdockets/parm1.aspx type in the defendants name and under “court location” select either New Britain Judicial District or New Britain Geographical Area 15, or (2) if you have the docket number that is assigned to the case it will indicate whether it is in Part A or Part B. Part A cases will have a docket number that begin with HHB and Part B cases will have a docket number that begins with H15N.
The Juvenile portion of the office is located on the third floor of the New Britain Superior Court. The Juvenile office covers these towns or cities: Avon, Berlin, Bristol, Canton, Canton Center, Collinsville, East Berlin, East Granby, East Hartland, Farmington, Granby, Hartland, Marion, Milldale, New Britain, Newington, North Canton, North Granby, Plainville, Plantsville, Rocky Hill, Simsbury, Southington, Tariffville, Unionville, Weatogue, West Granby, West Hartland, West Simsbury, and Wethersfield.
Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Marc Vallen is the head of the Juvenile office and obtains assistance from Investigator Gary Blake.
