Jonathan Kantrowitz

This may be much ado about nothing, but I tend to believe it more likely will be a really big story.

…State’s Attorney John A. Connelly is said to be the subject of a federal grand jury investigation into his relationship with a prominent local defense attorney.

According to several sources who asked not to be identified, the feds are looking into whether Connelly’s ties with Atty. Martin Minnella have grown improperly close, and whether prosecutorial behavior in certain court cases can be connected – directly or indirectly – to gifts, vacations and other emoluments. The sources say federal investigators have seized records from both Minnella and Connelly, and that the list of potential witnesses is growing..

Connelly has been on the job in Waterbury since the 1980s. Over 25 years, he has developed a reputation as a take-no-prisoners prosecutor who has, among other things, sought, and won, the death penalty in several big cases…

I was alerted to this story by one of my favorite blogs, a public defender:

Connelly is known by most in the State as the prosecutor who put most of CT’s death row inmates on the row. The proportion of death row inmates from his jurisdiction have prompted valid calls for an examination of the application of the death penalty in Connecticut and allegations of racial and geographical disparity in sentencings and death penalty prosecutions. Connelly has a reputation for being a ruthlessly efficient prosecutor, who makes juries melt in his hands, and up to now, has been beyond reproach.

One can only begin to ponder the implications on the future of the death penalty and the criminal justice system as a whole if this story has any legs, if the federal probe turns into an indictment and a prosecution.