Chief State's Attorney's Meeting

In attendance: Kevin Kane, John Russotto, Jonathan Benedict, David Cohen, John Connelly, Michael Dearington, Timothy Liston, Scott Murphy, David Shepack, Patricia Froehlich, Matthew Gedansky, Michael Regan, Kevin Lawlor, Stephen Sedensky, and Gail Hardy.

Also in attendance: Michael Gailor and Patricia Alston (for a portion).

The meeting started at approximately 12:43 p.m. The minutes from the December 22, 2008, Meeting were reviewed and unanimously approved.

Chief State’s Attorney Kevin Kane provided an overview of the State’s current financial crisis and its impact on the Division. He noted that he had received a letter from the Governor and that there was a temporary freeze on all hires. An exception has been made for the hiring of an Information Technology manager. There was some discussion about whether the contracts of per diems that would be expiring in the near future would be renewed. It was agreed that they would be looked at on a case by case basis and with consideration of the operational needs.

In response to a recent incident, Mr. Kane suggested that all State’s Attorney’s advise their assistants that they should contact the families of victims of vehicular homicides when judges refuse to sign arrest warrants for the parties involved. He indicated that such contact can prevent the families from learning about the decisions in the newspaper.

Mr. Sedensky raised concerns about whether Public Act 08-1 Section 40 was written too broadly. He suggested that it provides access to police reports and other confidential documents to people and organizations whose rights to see those items should not be unfettered. Mr. Kane advised that the Division of Criminal Justice had submitted legislation last year to address the issue and would submit a similar bill this year. The D.C.J. will work to address the issue prior to the completion of the C.J.I.S. project.

It was determined that the State’s Attorneys would work to address Giglio issues in their own jurisdictions and that there was no need to establish a statewide policy.

The D.C.J.’s legislative package was discussed and it was decided that the Office of the Chief State's Attorney would look into the possibility of submitting bills that would amend the kidnapping statute to allow for convictions even if the restraint was incidental to another crime committed and would transfer the responsibility of paying for the sex offender kits to the judicial department.

The upcoming training provided by the Internet Crimes Against Children group was discussed and members of D.C.J. will be encouraged to attend.

A discussion was had regarding a complaint made by a repossession agent. Mr. Cohn advised that his concerns more appropriately should be raised to the Connecticut Municipal Police Chiefs’ Association. It was agreed that no action by the State’s Attorneys was required.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:44 p.m.