Criminal Justice Commission

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Minutes of the Meeting of November 14, 2022

The Honorable Andrew J. McDonald, Chair, called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m.

In addition to Justice McDonald, participating in the meeting were: The Honorable Melanie L. Cradle, Attorneys Robert Berke, Scott Murphy and Moy Ogilvie and Chief State’s Attorney Patrick J. Griffin.

Justice McDonald said the Commission was to interview candidates for five positions of Deputy Assistant State’s Attorney in the Civil Litigation Bureau at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney.

Deputy Chief State’s Attorney of Operations Kevin D. Lawlor and Equal Employment Opportunity Specialist Janice duFrend were present to participate in the interviews of candidates for Deputy Assistant State’s Attorney.

Attorney Murphy moved to enter into executive session to discuss candidates for the positions. Judge Cradle seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. The executive session began at 9:06 a.m.

At 10:30 a.m., the Commission took a short recess and resumed its executive session at 10:45 a.m.

The executive session ended at 1:42 p.m. Justice McDonald announced that no motions were made or votes taken during the executive session. Chief State’s Attorney Griffin moved to approve Maxwell Bartels and Silvina Bejleri for conditional appointments as Deputy Assistant State’s Attorneys in the Civil Litigation Bureau at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney. The appointments will be effective upon the Chief State’s Attorney certifying to the Commission that the individuals selected have successfully completed a background check and that no adverse findings were found in the background check which would call into question the fitness and suitability of the individuals selected to serve as prosecutorial officials within the Division of Criminal Justice. Attorney Murphy seconded the motion and it passed 5-0, with Attorney Berke abstaining.

Justice McDonald introduced Marc Pelka, Undersecretary of Criminal Justice Policy and Planning for the Office of Policy and Management and Kevin Neary, Lead Planning Analyst with the Office of Policy and Management, who gave a presentation based on a recent analysis of Judicial Branch data and discussions with criminal justice officials in compliance with Public-Act 19-59 that requires Connecticut to routinely collect, analyze and report on prosecutor data. At the conclusion, the Commission members thanked the participants for their presentation.

There being no further business, Attorney Murphy moved to adjourn the meeting. Judge Cradle seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

The meeting adjourned at 2 p.m.