Archive for January, 2007
Same-sex marriage back on the legislative agenda
Jan 31st
With the new legislature now in session (and the super-majority held by the Democrats), the co-chairs of the Judiciary Committee have indicated that same-sex marriage legislation will be on the agenda this session.
The two Democratic leaders of the General Assembly’s judiciary
committee say they intend to introduce a bill legalizing gay marriage,
even though Gov. M. Jodi Rell has said she would veto such a measure.
Same support and opposition protests to follow. Stay tuned.
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The strange case of Julie Amero
Jan 30th
Update: Updates and analysis here.
Only recently have I tuned in to the prosecution of Julie Amero. Amero was a substitute teacher in the Norwich school district who was offered the use of a computer password by a fellow teacher so she could e-mail her husband. Described as "computer illiterate", she probably clicked on something that started opening up pornographic pop-ups in her browser. This is something we were all familiar with in the days that preceded Firefox and pop-up blockers. The kids in her class naturally swarmed the computer and a prosecution for Risk of Injury to a Minor ensued.
During the morning, she tried but could not prevent students from viewing the pop-up ads.
She said that she asked other teachers for help. They declined.
In the days and weeks after, an uproar ensued when parents and administrators learned what had happened.
Amero, of Windham, was charged with multiple counts of risk of injury to a minor. On Jan. 5, after a two-day jury trial, Amero was convicted on four counts.
As the above article tries to explain, however, it seems that to believe she is actually guilty of these crimes requires a huge leap of faith.
"It is so far out, I cannot believe it," said W. Herbert Horner, a Montville computer consultant who testified for the defense, but who, because of an apparent error by Amero’s lawyer, was unable to explain in detail to the jury what had happened.
Horner told me why the techie blogging world is apoplectic over this case: Software known as "spyware" had infected the computer in Amero’s room.
Apparent error by Amero’s lawyer? This is right up my alley! I wonder what the "error" was. The jury, however, chose to believe an apparent computer novice police detective and now faces up to 40 years in prison because she rejected a deal that would have sentenced her "only" to probation.
What would you do in a similar situation? Would you stick to your guns and deny mens rea or would you take the deal? It is an incredibly difficult situation with devastating consequences.
I will stay tuned to this case. A Habeas will almost certainly follow.
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Ennui envelopes Hartford
Jan 25th
This winter chill seems to have covered the capital city with a cloud of boredom. For the second time this week, police will charge a woman with filing a false report. In both cases, the women falsely claimed that they had been sexually assaulted. The first was a highly publicized case in which racial lines were drawn and the second occurred today.
Yes, it is a slow legal news day.
State prosecutors have to testify at death penalty hearing
Jan 14th
In the biggest news story last week, the Appellate Court ruled that state prosecutors can be called to testify at a hearing, where defense counsel are attempting to show that the state’s death penalty is unconstitutional.
Lawyers for Jessie Campbell III hope to prove that prosecutors have
"unbridled discretion" and that the death penalty is pursued
capriciously.Campbell’s public defenders, Ronald Gold and David Smith, hope to have
his death sentence overturned by showing that prosecutors in some
judicial districts are more aggressive in seeking the death penalty
than others. Such a "geographical disparity," they argue, is a
violation of the due process and equal protection clauses of both the
state and U.S. constitutions.
Here is a chart showing which jurisdictions have pursued the death penalty from 1978 to 2002:
Stay tuned, because this should be a lot of fun.
(Image source: Hartford Courant)
Retried for capital felony?
Jan 14th
New Haven police officer Robert Fumiatti died earlier this week, 5 years after he was shot. His shooter, Bell, is serving a 45 year sentence for assault and gun charges. However, New Haven mayor John DeStefano wants the state’s attorney to now try Bell for capital felony. Unfortunately, the autopsy says that the death is unrelated to the shooting.
An autopsy by Chief Medical Examiner H. Wayne Carver II determined that
Officer Rob Fumiatti died from natural causes related to a heart
problem called cardiac sarcoidosis."The big question on everybody’s mind is, (is) there a relationship
between the shooting and this death, and my medical opinion was no," he
said.
DeStefano disagrees. Officer Fumiatti had actually returned to his job in 2004, although the bullet remained lodged in his spine.
This is fascinating and I’m not sure what the state’s attorney will do. While I personally don’t think that Bell should be tried for capital felony, would a jury feel the same way about the tenuous connection between the shooting and his death or would they be more inclined to return a verdict of guilty?
Russell Kirby to be retried
Jan 14th
Russell Kirby, whose conviction was overturned [prior coverage] in October under Crawford, will be re-tried this year according to state prosecutors.
In October, the state’s highest court ordered a new trial for Kirby,
ruling that the statements Buck made to police, in which she identified
Kirby as her abductor, were made after she was back in the safety of
her home and should not have been admitted as evidence at Kirby’s
trial.
I don’t remember much more about the trial, but I wonder what sort of the evidence the state has other than those statements. Buck’s [the victim] husband refused to testify at Kirby’s trial, invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
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