Connecticut

Connecticut judge upholds post-Sandy Hook gun control law

A federal district judge in Connecticut has upheld the state’s gun control law that was enacted following the December 2012 school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The Hartford Courant reported Friday that U.S. District Court Judge Alfred Covello found the law to be constitutional. The law,…

Jan 31, 2014 9:32 PM CST

Me, sleeping? Federal judge offers proof she was taking notes rather than snoozing during drug trial

A Connecticut federal judge set out to address the rumors in a rare denial last Friday. Senior U.S. District Judge Ellen Bree Burns said she wasn’t sleeping as she presided in the conspiracy trial of three men accused of participating in a large drug-dealing ring, the New Haven Independent reports.…

Jan 30, 2014 1:32 PM CST

Former White House lawyer ordered to pay $28.6M in beating of wife

Connecticut jurors deliberated for only 90 minutes on Tuesday before finding former White House lawyer John Michael Farren liable for $28.6 million in the severe beating of his wife. Farren’s wife, Mary Margaret Farren, had testified her husband attacked her in their master bedroom two days after she served him…

Dec 18, 2013 1:08 PM CST

Former White House lawyer is no-show at civil trial for alleged wife beating

A Connecticut judge entered a default judgment on Tuesday against former White House lawyer John Michael Farren in a civil trial seeking damages for allegedly beating his wife and breaking her jaw. Farren had appeared in court during jury selection last week, then missed two days of the trial, the…

Dec 11, 2013 1:03 PM CST

2 teens face criminal charges, accused of allowing a drunken friend to drive

Two unidentified Connecticut teenagers have been criminally charged, accused of allowing a 17-year-old Glastonbury High School student they knew to be “highly intoxicated” to operate a sport-utility vehicle. Soon after Jane Modlesky took the wheel of the 2008 Honda Pilot in the early hours of July 14, the star lacrosse…

Dec 6, 2013 6:20 PM CST

Sandy Hook school shooting report calls Lanza obsessed with mass murder, says he acted alone

Following an 11-month investigation, the motive of the shooter who killed 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school last December before killing himself is not known, says a heavily redacted report (PDF) released Monday by the state’s attorney in Danbury. However, it says 20-year-old Adam Lanza had…

Nov 25, 2013 10:25 PM CST

Judge grants new trial for Kennedy cousin Skakel in 1975 slaying of teenage neighbor

A Connecticut judge has OK’d a new trial for Michael Skakel, a cousin of the famous Kennedy family, due to ineffective assistance of counsel. Skakel, 52, is a nephew of Robert F. Kennedy’s widow, Ethel Kennedy. He was convicted in 2002 of beating to death a teenage neighbor, Martha Moxley,…

Oct 23, 2013 9:30 PM CDT

Hospital wins court ruling to boot ‘belligerent’ patient, but battle continues over free in-home bed

A Connecticut hospital won a court ruling requiring a “belligerent” patient to comply with a discharge order and vacate her acute-care bed. And patient Margo Smith was, in fact, transported home, a day after the court OK’d injunctive relief for St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center and 23 days after…

Oct 22, 2013 3:35 PM CDT

Hospital sues to boot ‘belligerent’ patient from acute-care bed

A Connecticut hospital has filed a state-court lawsuit against a “belligerent” patient, contending that she refuses to comply with a discharge order and continues to occupy her acute-care bed at the facility. Margo Smith has been examined by the St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center’s psychiatry department and “deemed to…

Oct 18, 2013 7:10 PM CDT

Owner who sold gun used in Newtown school massacre pleads to unrelated charge

David LaGuercia, the owner of the gun store that sold the rifle used in the Newtown school massacre, has pleaded guilty to federal charges from gun sales to other customers. LaGuercia’s Riverview Gun Sales in East Windsor, Conn., was raided in the days following the shooting. During the investigation, federal…

Aug 23, 2013 1:00 PM CDT

2nd Circuit nixes $50M suit against Yale over PhD mix-up that fanned hiring scandal flames

A federal appeals court has affirmed the dismissal of a case in which a South Korean university sought tens of millions of dollars in tort damages from Yale University after hiring a professor who falsely claimed to have earned a doctorate degree at Yale. A major scandal resulted from Dongguk…

Aug 15, 2013 9:10 PM CDT

Day Pitney is laying off 40 attorneys and staff

One of Connecticut’s largest law firms is giving pink slips to nearly 10 attorneys and about 30 staff members. Day Pitney has confirmed the layoffs, explaining in a written statements that “As the legal industry changes, we continue to evaluate and reshape our staff to better align with industry norms…

Aug 9, 2013 11:14 AM CDT

Longtime legal secretary charged in $1M theft, accused of blowing $500K at off-track betting parlor

A trusted longtime legal secretary is accused of embezzling over $1 million from a Connecticut law firm since 2008—and allegedly blowing some $500,000, in recent years, at an off-track betting parlor in New Haven. Barbara Kalpin is charged with two counts of first-degree larceny and 112 counts of second-degree forgery,…

Aug 8, 2013 10:35 PM CDT

Lawyer faces charges in claimed $2.5M auto insurance fraud

A Connecticut lawyer has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of mail fraud and conspiring to commit mail fraud as part of a claimed $2.5 million auto insurance scheme. Personal injury attorney Joseph Haddad is the seventh individual charged as a result of the so-called Operation Running Man probe by…

Aug 6, 2013 5:15 PM CDT

Suit claims consumer bureau is improperly trying to regulate lawyers

A Connecticut solo practitioner has filed a suit claiming the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is exceeding its authority by attempting to regulate law practice when it involves debt relief services. Lawyer Kimberly Pisinski filed the suit along with Morgan Drexen Inc., a company she hired to provide support staffers for…

Jul 23, 2013 4:31 PM CDT