Chief State’s Attorney Meeting

Via Teams Meeting

Minutes of the Meeting of January 10, 2024

The meeting was called to order at 12:45 p.m. by Chief State’s Attorney Patrick J. Griffin.Also present: Deputy Chief State’s Attorney of Administration, Personnel and Finance John J. Russotto; Deputy Chief State’s Attorney of Operations Kevin Lawlor; Deputy Chief State’s Attorney, Inspector General Robert J. Devlin, Jr.; State’s Attorneys Margaret E. Kelley (Ansonia/Milford), David R. Applegate (Danbury),  Sharmese L. Walcott (Hartford), David R. Shannon (Litchfield), Christian M. Watson (New Britain), John P. Doyle, Jr. (New Haven), Paul J. Narducci (New London), Paul J. Ferencek (Stamford/Norwalk), Matthew C. Gedansky (Tolland), Anne F. Mahoney (Windham) and Maureen T. Platt (Waterbury).

Also present: Executive Assistant State’s Attorneys Kathryn W. Bare, Gail P. Hardy and Brett J. Salafia; Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney David Kutzner; Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Timothy J. Sugrue, Legislative Liaison Anne Cournoyer, Manager of Research and Planning Kyle Baudoin, Director of Information Technology Naveen Prathikantam; Chief Inspector Michael Sullivan, and Marisa DePhillips, Executive Secretary to the Chief State’s Attorney.

State’s Attorney Kelley moved to accept the minutes of the December 6, 2023 meeting. State’s Attorney Doyle seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Regarding budget matters, Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Russotto said the Division would be gathering data regarding workload and staffing in an effort to determine what resources to request before the legislature, particularly with the bandwidth and technological infrastructure needed to review and assess body-worn camera footage for evidence in criminal cases.

Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Russotto said interviews for Deputy Assistant State’s Attorneys for a vacant position in the New London Judicial District would occur during the February 1, 2024 meeting of the Criminal Justice Commission. He said there are currently nine vacant prosecutor positions, 21 vacant positions across the Division.

On the topic of legislative matters, Legislative Liaison Cournoyer said the Division would submit four bills during the upcoming short legislative session that runs from February to May. The proposed legislation is focused on crime victims and victims’ rights.  Legislative Liaison Cournoyer said the Division is planning to meet with members of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee as well as officials with the state Judicial Branch and Division of Public Defender Services to discuss the proposed bills. Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Kutzner said the Office of Legislative Research recently requested information regarding hate crimes in Connecticut. Chief State’s Attorney Griffin and Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Lawlor discussed the possibility that legislators will take up the issue of bail reform and said the Division is open to those discussions.

Regarding training at the Division, Executive Assistant State’s Attorney D’Angelo reported that 22 Deputy Assistant State’s Attorneys attended the recent Division “Boot Camp” which received positive feedback. She said the Training Committee is in the early stages of planning for the Division’s Camp Justice which will take place during the third week in July. Executive Assistant State’s Attorney D’Angelo said due to a request from law enforcement officials, the Division could hold an advanced report writing class in March. She said planning is underway for another Deputy Assistant State’s Attorney “Boot Camp” in May. Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Russotto reported that State’s Attorney Mahoney would be piloting an online prosecutor trial training program in the Windham Judicial District. If the program is determined to be worthwhile, he said it would then be made available to other Judicial Districts.

In other business, Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Russotto said interviews with Division internship candidates are taking place. Executive Assistant State’s Attorney Hardy asked State’s Attorneys to notify her regarding undergraduate internship candidates who would likely be directed to apply for positions in the Division’s Summer Worker program.

At 2:02 p.m., Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Russotto made a motion to go into executive session. The motion was seconded by Chief State’s Attorney Griffin and it passed unanimously. The executive session ended at 2:21 p.m. Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Russotto announced that no motions were made or votes taken during the executive session.

There being no further business, a motion to adjourn was made by State’s Attorney Narducci and seconded by State’s Attorney Kelley. The meeting was adjourned at 2:22 p.m.