Chief State’s Attorney Meeting

Minutes of the Meeting of March 8, 2023

The meeting was called to order at 12:56 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, Inspector General Robert J. Devlin, Jr., State’s Attorneys Margaret E. Kelley (Ansonia/Milford), David R. Applegate (Danbury), Joseph T. Corradino, (Fairfield), 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, Maureen T. Platt (Waterbury), and Anne F. Mahoney (Windham).

Also Present: Executive Assistant State’s Attorneys Lisa M. D’Angelo, Gail P. Hardy and Brett Salafia, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney David Kutzner, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Kathryn W. Bare, Chief Inspector Frederick P. Haddad Jr., Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Timothy J. Sugrue, Legislative Liaison Anne Cournoyer and Manager of Research and Planning Kyle Baudoin.

State’s Attorney Corradino moved to accept the minutes of the February 1, 2023 meeting. State’s Attorney Ferencek seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Chief State’s Attorney Griffin introduced Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Vincent Duva, who was recently appointed to serve as the Division’s new Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney for Juvenile Matters at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney in Rocky Hill. Chief State’s Attorney Griffin and Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Russotto also introduced Theresa Eisenbach, the new Director of Human Resources for the Division.

Reporting for the Operations Committee, State’s Attorney Platt said the committee discussed creating guidelines for getting state corporations to comply with search and seizure warrants and a proposed discovery policy that would be voted on at a later date.

Anne Cournoyer, Legislative Liaison, reported that Chief State’s Attorney Griffin and Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Russotto appeared recently before the Joint Committee on Appropriations regarding the budget. She updated the status of proposed legislation that is of interest to the Division, including recently submitted written testimony by the Division and noted dates for upcoming Judiciary Committee hearings. The State’s Attorneys discussed a wide range of legislative proposals, discussion that would be considered during the next meeting of the Legislative Committee.

Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Russotto reported that the Criminal Justice Commission at their March meeting would consider one position of Deputy Assistant State’s Attorney in the Office of the State’s Attorney, Judicial District of Middlesex, and one position of Deputy Assistant State’s Attorney, Judicial District of New London, Geographical Area (G.A.) 10.

Executive Assistant State’s Attorney Hardy reported that background checks were currently being conducted on internship candidates for the summer for positions in the Judicial Districts. Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Russotto noted Executive Assistant State’s Attorney Hardy’s efforts in recruiting fellowship candidates. Chief State’s Attorney Griffin also recognized Executive Assistant State’s Attorney Hardy’s work on last month’s Black History Month event that included recruitment efforts with law school students.

Executive Assistant State’s Attorney D’Angelo provided an update on recent training being held at the Division and discussed new training request forms that will enable Division employees digitally to fill out the forms, get them signed and forwarded to the approving parties. Employees also now will be able to track the status of their requests.

Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Russotto said applications for the summer data entry positions are currently being considered.

State’s Attorney Corradino moved to go into Executive Session. The motion was seconded by State’s Attorney Mahoney and it passed unanimously.

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 Corradino and seconded by State’s Attorney Narducci. The meeting was adjourned at 3:10 p.m.