AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantApr 12, 2021 at 5:47 pmThe state Supreme court on Monday denied a long-pending appeal by multiple murderer Joshua Komisarjevsky, a decision that keeps him in prison where he is serving six consecutive life sentences for the rapes and murders of three members of a Cheshire family during a notorious home invasion in 2007.The court ruled against Komisarjevsky on a half dozen appeal claims.AdvertisementHe argued that the jury in his 2011 trial was biased by pretrial publicity, that his challenges of certain jurors were ignored and that prosecutors were late in...…AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantApr 12, 2021 at 5:47 pmThe state Supreme court on Monday denied a long-pending appeal by multiple murderer Joshua Komisarjevsky, a decision that keeps him in prison where he is serving six consecutive life sentences for the rapes and murders of three members of a Cheshire family during a notorious home invasion in 2007.The court ruled against Komisarjevsky on a half dozen appeal claims.AdvertisementHe argued that the jury in his 2011 trial was biased by pretrial publicity, that his challenges of certain jurors were ignored and that prosecutors were late in...WW…

AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantFeb 15, 2021 at 6:00 amA quarter century ago, drug violence was exploding. The government’s response was Draconian punishment. Wilfredo Perez, who was selling kilograms of cocaine from an auto repair shop on Hartford’s south side, became an example of how criminal justice was dispensed.His case now illustrates how attitudes toward crime and punishment have changed.AdvertisementAt the peak of drug violence in the middle 1990s, a gangster named Teddy Casiano kidnapped a Perez dealer and was stealing Perez’s drugs. Pressed by his associates, Perez...…AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantFeb 15, 2021 at 6:00 amA quarter century ago, drug violence was exploding. The government’s response was Draconian punishment. Wilfredo Perez, who was selling kilograms of cocaine from an auto repair shop on Hartford’s south side, became an example of how criminal justice was dispensed.His case now illustrates how attitudes toward crime and punishment have changed.AdvertisementAt the peak of drug violence in the middle 1990s, a gangster named Teddy Casiano kidnapped a Perez dealer and was stealing Perez’s drugs. Pressed by his associates, Perez...WW…

AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantJan 24, 2021 at 6:00 amIn spite of a distinctive name, Patrick Edward McCaughey III, lived a rather undistinguished life, at least until Jan. 6 when a video recording of him appearing to batter and bloody one of the police officers protecting the U.S. Capitol from rioters was broadcast across the internet and around the world.Federal agents followed the video to his mother’s house on the New York border in Ridgefield, one of Connecticut’s most affluent, if not the most affluent places. He was arrested, hauled into court in chains and portrayed as an ugly face...…AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantJan 24, 2021 at 6:00 amIn spite of a distinctive name, Patrick Edward McCaughey III, lived a rather undistinguished life, at least until Jan. 6 when a video recording of him appearing to batter and bloody one of the police officers protecting the U.S. Capitol from rioters was broadcast across the internet and around the world.Federal agents followed the video to his mother’s house on the New York border in Ridgefield, one of Connecticut’s most affluent, if not the most affluent places. He was arrested, hauled into court in chains and portrayed as an ugly face...WW…

AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantJan 07, 2021 at 9:06 pmA man was shot dead Wednesday morning in an exchange of gunfire with officers from a federal law enforcement task force who had come to the Enfield Street area in Hartford’s north end to make an arrest in an unrelated shooting, law enforcement officials said.The victim was not the man being sought for arrest, but rather was in the area when the arrest was being made. Law enforcement officials said the victim fired at the officers, perhaps thinking he was their target. It was unclear what if any relationship there was between the victim...…AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantJan 07, 2021 at 9:06 pmA man was shot dead Wednesday morning in an exchange of gunfire with officers from a federal law enforcement task force who had come to the Enfield Street area in Hartford’s north end to make an arrest in an unrelated shooting, law enforcement officials said.The victim was not the man being sought for arrest, but rather was in the area when the arrest was being made. Law enforcement officials said the victim fired at the officers, perhaps thinking he was their target. It was unclear what if any relationship there was between the victim...WW…

AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantSep 10, 2020 at 6:23 pmBridgeport Police Chief Armando J. Perez has resigned after he and the city’s personnel director were charged Thursday by federal authorities with rigging the city’s 2018 police chief examination to guarantee that Perez would get the position.Perez, a longtime confidant of Mayor Joseph P. Ganim, and city acting personnel director David Dunn were charged with fraud for fixing the test and, later, lying to FBI agents investigating. Ganim said in a video posted to Facebook on Thursday evening that Perez had resigned.Advertisement“We have...…AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantSep 10, 2020 at 6:23 pmBridgeport Police Chief Armando J. Perez has resigned after he and the city’s personnel director were charged Thursday by federal authorities with rigging the city’s 2018 police chief examination to guarantee that Perez would get the position.Perez, a longtime confidant of Mayor Joseph P. Ganim, and city acting personnel director David Dunn were charged with fraud for fixing the test and, later, lying to FBI agents investigating. Ganim said in a video posted to Facebook on Thursday evening that Perez had resigned.Advertisement“We have...WW…

AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantAug 20, 2020 at 6:49 pmSteve Bannon, former senior adviser to President Donald Trump, was pulled from a mega yacht off the Connecticut coast early Thursday and charged in what federal prosecutors said was a scheme to embezzle hundreds of thousands of dollars from a fundraising campaign for one of Trump’s top projects: construction of a wall along the border with Mexico.The U.S. Coast Guard collected Bannon from the 151-foot, $28 million yacht at about 7 a.m., within sight of the beach houses in Westbrook. Hours later, he was in handcuffs in federal district...…AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantAug 20, 2020 at 6:49 pmSteve Bannon, former senior adviser to President Donald Trump, was pulled from a mega yacht off the Connecticut coast early Thursday and charged in what federal prosecutors said was a scheme to embezzle hundreds of thousands of dollars from a fundraising campaign for one of Trump’s top projects: construction of a wall along the border with Mexico.The U.S. Coast Guard collected Bannon from the 151-foot, $28 million yacht at about 7 a.m., within sight of the beach houses in Westbrook. Hours later, he was in handcuffs in federal district...WW…

AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantJul 01, 2020 at 5:51 pmFour Republican candidates for Congress are trying to block the state from implementing an emergency pandemic order by Gov. Ned Lamont that could dramatically increase the use of absentee ballots for the state’s delayed Aug. 11 primary by distributing them to any voter who claims to be worried about contracting the coronavirus at the polls.The candidates are part of a group called Fight Voter Fraud and their suit targets Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, the state’s chief election officer. The suit contends Merrill has interpreted...…AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantJul 01, 2020 at 5:51 pmFour Republican candidates for Congress are trying to block the state from implementing an emergency pandemic order by Gov. Ned Lamont that could dramatically increase the use of absentee ballots for the state’s delayed Aug. 11 primary by distributing them to any voter who claims to be worried about contracting the coronavirus at the polls.The candidates are part of a group called Fight Voter Fraud and their suit targets Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, the state’s chief election officer. The suit contends Merrill has interpreted...WW…

AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantMay 13, 2020 at 8:27 pmA federal court gave a victory Tuesday night to about 1,000 inmates at the federal prison in Danbury who charged in a class action suit late last month that they are being confined in unconstitutionally dangerous conditions because authorities have failed to release prisoners to home confinement and take other steps to stem the spread of the coronavirus in the institution.U.S. District Judge Michael Shea issued an order that gives the prison administration just days to identify inmates with health conditions that place them at risk for...…AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantMay 13, 2020 at 8:27 pmA federal court gave a victory Tuesday night to about 1,000 inmates at the federal prison in Danbury who charged in a class action suit late last month that they are being confined in unconstitutionally dangerous conditions because authorities have failed to release prisoners to home confinement and take other steps to stem the spread of the coronavirus in the institution.U.S. District Judge Michael Shea issued an order that gives the prison administration just days to identify inmates with health conditions that place them at risk for...WW…