John Connelly’s Day Gets Worse.

Waterbury State’s Attorney John Connelly’s day is worse than any losing candidate’s.  News of a federal grand jury doing serious work into allegations of improper relationships in the Waterbury web of criminal justice connections appeared on Connecticut Magazine’s website today.  That investigation, we can report, is said to be extensive and explosive.  Waterbury figures are said to be lawyering up with well-known names.  Sources say action by federal authorities is near.

Connelly became a defendant today when former Hartford police officer Robert Lawlor, who was acquitted of manslaughter and assault charges in December 2009, filed a federal civil action against Connelly for malicious prosecution, failure to disclose exculpatory evidence, and due process violations.  Lawlor, represented by New Haven lawyer Norm Pattis, claims that Connelly’s grand jury investigation of a 2005 shooting of two men during a Hartford illegal firearms investigation failed to include critical evidence that Connelly “intentionally misrepresented the fact that he possessed exculpatory evidence.”

Lawlor testified that he fired at the car when the driver began to accelerate toward Lawlor’s partner and the passenger made motions consistent with the use of a firearm.  The passenger was killed, the drive injured.

You can read a pdf of Lawlor v. Connelly here.