HARTFORD COURANT REPORTS ON FREEWHEELING JUDICIAL MARSHAL ARRESTED FOR THE FORTH TIME!

Christine Dempsey of The Hartford Courant reports as follows:

"WATERBURY — A former judicial marshal who already faces child pornography and prostitution charges has now been accused of human trafficking, the state police said.

Michael Connelly, 53, of Sharon Road in Waterbury turned himself in about 6:15 a.m. Thursday at the Troop A barracks in Southbury on charges of trafficking in persons. He also was charged with three counts each of impersonating a police officer and coercion.

Connelly's lawyer, Leonard Connelly's lawyer, Leonard Crone, came out Crone, came out swinging during Connelly's arraignment Thursday afternoon In Waterbury Superior Court, calling the prosecution of Connelly a "sham," "weak" and a "vendetta played out" by state police and the chief state's attorney's office.

Crone said those agencies "had problems" with his brother, former Waterbury state's attorney John Connelly, and now law enforcement officials are "taking it out on him."

For more information on this important matter, please click on the links below:

Fourth arrest for human trafficking:
http://www.courant.com/breaking-news/hc-waterbury-connelly-judicial-marshal-arrest-0508-20150507-story.html

15 year history of causing trouble:
http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-michael-connelly-judicial-marshal-work-problems-20150208-story.html#page=1

ATTORNEY JAMES T. FLAHERTY ATTACKS ANOTHER FORMER CLIENT IN CIVIL COURT!

Last Wednesday, April 29, 2015, I joined Elizabeth Sinatro

at the Civil Courthouse in Hartford, CT as she faced the 

Flaherty Legal Group--Attorney James T. Flaherty and 

Attorney Sandi Girolamo--who were suing her in

collections for fees related to her late father's divorce. 

A graduate of Yale Law School, Ms. Sinatro's Dad was

a well respected Mechanical Engineer and patent

attorney who worked in the area of intellectual

property. 

Not only did he work in private practice for forty years

in Hartford, CT, he was also the President

of the West Hartford Town Planning and Zoning

Committee. As an avid golfer and a very friendly, 

considerate individual, Elizabeth Sinatro's 

father was extremely well liked and well respected

by his peers. 

Ironically, both he and Attorney James T. Flaherty

knew each other quite well. Ordinarily, in

the legal profession you would extend a level

of professional courtesy to another legal

professional. However, in the case of Ms. Sinatro's

father, who was dying at the time, Attorney Flaherty 

entirely disregarded this professional understanding

and victimized his client the same way he had

victimized so many others.

Ms. Sinatro, who was acting on behalf of her father, 

is one of the dozens of former clients Attorney 

James T. Flaherty has taken to Court to collect legal fees. 

At this court hearing, Flaherty and his crew were hoping

to obtain a pre judgment remedy to put a lien on the 

property from the estate to guarantee his fees. This

is the standard operating procedure for Attorney

James T. Flaherty which he has been carrying out

now for at least a decade.

Jim Flaherty and his legal group have a track record

unlike any other attorney or legal practice. How this

group has avoided being disbarred is a mystery, 

perhaps, a mystery that only a thorough investigation

of the CT Judicial Branch could solve.

In this particular case, Attorney Flaherty has taken on an 

entire family. Ms. Sinatro's brother Paul explained the 

circumstances to me in a recent letter, which went as 

follows:

"My late father’s health was declining and his wife filed for 

divorce. Jim Flaherty and the Flaherty Legal Group (FLG) 

represented my father and my sisters and I had Power of 

Attorney and were closely involved with the case. Per FLG
this was a simple case; an uncontested divorce, with one 

home, no businesses to divide and straight forward assets 

(checking, savings, retirement, investments).  FLG 

estimated the cost for the case to be $5-10k. 

However, in violation of standard procedures in these

kinds of divorce cases, FLG did not do any discovery

on the household assets; did not put any protective

orders in place to protect his client and as we learned

after the case was over, they even agreed with the

ex-wife when she refused to turn over financial

statements, something FLG was warned would 

occur. 

FLG's representation bordered on malpractice and, 

when it comes to Attorney James T. Flaherty, in no 

way did he live up to his oath to represent his client

to the best of his abilities. 

In the end, our father was coerced into a settlement

that equated to 36% of the entire estate and FLG

billed him over $60,000 for the expedited divorce

that had one deposition and no hearing. 

When I questioned the final bill, Jim Flaherty became 

hostile and aggressive. When we refused to pay the 

trumped up bill, he “fired” our father as a client (charging 

$5,800 to file the paperwork with the court) and put a 

charging lien on my father’s portion of the net proceeds of 

the sale of his house (this was recently deemed illegal by 

the CT Supreme Court) and has filed suit against my sister
as executrix of the estate.

Following our experience we have come to understand

what a monster FLG is and we have learned of

numerous clients' lives that have been harmed by

this man and his team. As you probably know, FLG

has sued over 69 clients. Through my rudimentary

research I cannot find a Marital Law practice that

has sued anywhere close to that number of 

clients during the same period of time. Even large,

active firms with 25+ attorney’s don’t sue at this pace. 

Currently, Jim Flaherty has 3 open cases, two are where

he is suing clients (we are one of them) and I am not

sure about the other. His legal team of Sandi Girolamo

and Pamela Magnano do not have any active clients.

This firm is not the business of law.

At the end of the hearing on Wednesday, Judge Peck 

decided to grant a continuance in the case even though it 

was clear that, based upon the evidence, the case should 

simply have been dismissed. Even more troubling, from 

what I have heard, is the fact that at the same time 

Judge Peck gave Attorney James T. Flaherty fairly
detailed instructions on what legal steps he needed
to take in order to overcome the technical legal
problems in the case. 

She indicated that she was troubled that Attorney

Flaherty might be hindered in obtaining an outcome

that would benefit him. To me, it seems unlikely that

Judge Peck or any other judges at the Civil Court are

unaware of Attorney Flaherty's blatant misuse of

the Civil Court as his own private collection agency, 

and as a means to manhandle and blackmail his

former clients. That it has come to the point 

where the judges are taking their preferential

treatment of Attorney Flaherty to the level of 

providing him with legal advice, this is unconscionable. 

Has it come to the point where justice is for sale in the 

courtrooms in the State of Connecticut, and

influence triumphs over doing what is right?

BLOODY, BUT UNBOWED: THE COLLEEN KERWICK STORY, PART I!

In 2008, Colleen Kerwick, a citizen of Ireland and aviation attorney who had been living in New York City, married her second husband, Kenneth Savino, an American citizen living in Connecticut and involved in Wealth Management.  The two had their first child in 2009.  Despite this auspicious beginning, on July 4 2011 Colleen Kerwick served   her then husband with papers for separation and relocation to NY, to which her ex responded by filing for divorce in Connecticut Family Court on July 11, 2011.  Two years later, on December 20, 2013, Ken Savino obtained sole custody of their son, then four years old.  In contrast, Colleen was barred from seeing her son for several months.  

How did Colleen Kerwick, a bright, well functioning, successful individual and loving responsible mother lose all rights her child?  The answer to this question lies in understanding the legal machinations of our corrupt family court system here in Connecticut.

Before proceeding with this discussion, I think there are some important factors that I think anyone looking at the Colleen Kerwick case needs to keep in mind.  I present them in no particular order of importance.

First, of all, Colleen Kerwick is not an American   She was born and raised in Ireland, graduated from high school and law school in Ireland with honors.  It was only subsequent to her graduation from law school, at the age of 24, that she immigrated to the United States.  

Ms. Kerwick speaks with an Irish accent, she is a native Irish speaker, and remains with the attitudes and presumptions of a person who for whom American culture is a taste acquired later in life.  As several prominent examples have shown--the Amanda Knox case comes immediately to mind--we must always take particular care when attempting to process a citizen of a foreign country through our legal system.  

We must ensure that a grave injustice does not occur simply on the basis of the profound cultural differences that exist between countries.  I came to this country at the age of 4 and I still have problems with this issue.  

Simply based upon this factor alone, the Colleen Kerwick case is a particular embarrassment to the citizens of the State of Connecticut and to the legal system itself.

Second, Colleen's ordeal began when she served her ex-husband, Ken Savino with papers on July 4, 2011 for separation and relocation to New York, to which he responded by filing for divorce on July 11, 2011.  Her decision to leave Mr. Savino arose after a considerable period of neglect and absenteeism in her life and that of their child.  During the marriage he was very controlling, was highly critical of her looks and behavior, and tried to restrict her access to sleep, even after their son was born.  Once Colleen made it clear that she could no longer stay in the marriage, this appeared to trigger Mr. Savino into a rage to the point where he has been extremely vengeful towards Colleen, has sought to destroy her relationship with their son and has filed several complaints with the police in an attempt to have her arrested.  Luckily, these attempts have failed.   

Third, Colleen Kerwick was/is a victim of domestic violence as was her child.  Thus, I have before me a letter dated October 12, 2011 written by Shanthi Rao, MSW of Interval House West in which she states, "[Ms. Kerwick] contacted our agency [on] July 2011 and was found appropriate for our services.  Ms. Kerwick shared her personal history and incidences of occasions of physical, emotional and verbal abuse by her husband during the course of their marriage, especially when she was pregnant with their son."  

Further, Ms. Rao stated, "As a domestic violence counselor, it is my professional opinion that Ms. Kerwick is a victim of very serious intimate partner violence/domestic violence and abuse.  These are extremely difficult issues and I wish to express my appreciation of your capable sensitivity to the complexities of this situation."  

I say this with confidence particularly because Ms. Shanthi Rao is a highly respected domestic violence worker who is very reliable in her judgments.  I have personally met Ms. Rao and if she has assessed Colleen Kerwick and concluded that she is a victim of domestic violence, I find that very persuasive.  Shanthi Roe is well respected among women's advocacy circles, not only by her colleagues, but also by her clients.

I also base this assessment on the psychological report dated November 6, 2012 of neuropsychologist Dr. Rimma Danov who concluded that, along with having many other admirable qualities, that Ms. Kerwick is "an emotionally stable, mature, well-adjusted and responsible individual..." This is hardly the kind of person who would just make something up.

Finally, I just have to look at the behavior of Colleen's ex-husband, Kenneth Savino and his attorneys to know that they are simply not good people.  When Ms. Colleen Kerwick lost her child as the result of a fabricated Amber alert in 2013, the incident was reported in several articles posted on this blog. 

Not long after they were posted, an individual who was clearly an attorney representing the father, Kenneth Savino, posted several aggressive, bullying and factually inaccurate comments regarding Colleen Kerwick and family court reformers underneath these articles.  This alone reveals the abusive character of Colleen Kerwick's ex-husband.  

In addition, if you look at the case detail for the Savino case, it appears that Mr. Savino essentially hired two of the most unscrupulous and warlike attorneys practicing in Connecticut Family Court today, i.e. Budlong and Barrett, LLC and Attorney Steve Dembo.  

If Kenneth Savino was serious about co-parenting his child, Nicholas, he would never have hired such litigious counsel.  You just have to see two attorneys jumping up and down and giving speeches on one side of the courtroom while Colleen Kerwick is on the other side representing herself to know exactly who is the victim here.  And I might add, ridiculing and mocking Colleen Kerwick because of her use of words which arises from her background as a citizen of Ireland.  

I want to add that not only has Budlong and Barrett, LLC been bullying towards Colleen Kerwick, it has also been bullying towards me.  

For instance, this law firm has submitted a complaint to the West Hartford police department because I cut and pasted a section from the law firm's own website and pasted it onto mine.  

In addition, Budlong and Barrett, LLC sent me a threatening letter indicating that it may at some point sue me on the basis of "incitement to violence" if I don't stop blogging about them.  

Nothing like honest words to scare bad people to death and put the fight in them.  In a recent incident where Divorce in  Connecticut reporter, Elizabeth Richter was court watching for a friend, Attorney Michael Budlong stood before Judge Jorge Simon and made false statements about her and persuaded Judge Simon on the basis of those lies to remove her from the courtroom.  If Kenneth Savino condones behavior of this kind, there is no doubt in my mind what kind of abuse he is capable of personally himself, and in regard to directing others to perpetrate it on his behalf.

To be continued...

PAUL RYAN SPEAKS OUT ON THE REAPPOINTMENT OF CHASE T. ROGERS: MORE CORRUPTION AS USUAL!

Paul Ryan states as follows:

"Eight years. By our historical temporal scale, eight years is but an instant . . . a veritable flash of light that will barely be noticed on our anthropological calendar. If, however, you are an individual — or worse yet — a family living in Connecticut and need to use the programs, activities or services of our state courts to help you resolve any sort of legal dispute, best if you're wearing a seat belt or something else because it's likely to be a bumpy ride for the foreseeable future.

Either our General Assembly was uninformed, duped, or chose to ignore the full scope of information before them. The Senate had already voted unanimously, as had the Joint Committee on Judiciary, but is it possible that all the public voices would be dismissed, individually and collectively? At this point, it would appear so as the final vote was 139 members of the House voting in favor of the resolution confirming the nomination of the Honorable Chase T. Rogers of Old Lyme to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and a Judge of the Superior Court. Just 74 votes were needed for passage, and so the resolution carried. Only 6 legislators voted "Nay" (Representatives Arce, Candelara, Gonzalez, Sanchez, Tercyzak, and Carter), but even among this group, only Rep. Minnie Gonzalez, a Hartford-Democrat, rose to explain her vote in opposition..."

For more information on this matter, please click on the link below:

http://ctsupremecourt.blogspot.com/2015/04/ct-house-representatives-confirm-chase-t-rogers-chief-justice-2015.html

IN LETTER TO CT GENERAL ASSEMBLY, ACTIVIST SCOTT BUDEN DECRIES ATTACKS ON REP. MINNIE GONZALEZ AND MEMBERS OF THE CT FAMILY COURT REFORM MOVEMENT!

It appears that the anonymous person who penned the April 14th op-ed piece run by the Hartford Courant googled the term "inflammatory language", copied all the results, and called it an article.  Its dearth of formed opinion notwithstanding, was there a reason why this author could not stand behind his or her words?

http://www.courant.com/opinion/editorials/hc-ed-minnie-gonzalez-should-be-sanctioned-20150414-story.html

Governor Malloy then publicly admonished both Representatives Rebimbas and González on April 17th, as if Ms Rebimbas' misdirecting attention away from criminal activity and Ms González' calling out the covering of crimes were the same thing:  a spat.

http://www.courant.com/politics/capitol-watch/hc-minnie-gonzalez-its-over-20150417-story.html

It is necessary to provide a foundation of facts to give context to the drama, because there has been so much done to shield the underlying information that brought rise to the altercation.

We have a theme going:  Attack all critics of the courts.  Blame victims.  The threadbare "disgruntled litigant" epithet is a warped record loop stuck playing over the propaganda speakers, and Göbbels hasn't realized that the playbook has already been put into evidence at Nuremberg.

Representative Rebimbas attacks all critics of the courts.  That fact makes perfect sense, given her investment as a GAL in the continued unrestricted looting of assets in all family cases.  In Friday'shearing, instead of recusing herself on a matter where she stands to profit, she concerned herself entirely with misrepresenting other people's thoughts and feelings and protecting the delicate egos of judges who have done unspeakable harm to the people of Connecticut.  Again on Monday's hearing, instead of recusing herself, she participated in a plan to grind the legislative process to a halt over an apology that was already given.  Not once did she speak or act for the interests of the people of Naugatuck who elected her to represent them.

Representative González, by contrast, has no financial stake in the administration and operation of the Judicial Branch.  She is an impartial member of the Judiciary Committee.

In a dirty maneuver while Ms González was out of the hearing room, Ms Rebimbas made some large claims that there was no supporting evidence of the failures of law that Ms Gonzáles raised.  In what appears to be a public call for retaliation, Ms Rebimbas went so far as to name a specific litigant who dared to bring to the legislature the transcript of her judge attacking her, fabricating imaginary lawsuits, accusing the litigant in his paranoid delusions of chasing away all professional therapists, and even letting slip that there is a secret tier system of qualified vendors.

Here Judge Adelman in D'Amato v D'Amato (July 11, 2014), monologuing from the bench, attacks all critics of the courts, ironically hoisting himself with his own petard:

ADELMAN:  Have you ever heard the expression being hoisted [sic] by [sic] your own petard?

LITIGANT:  No.

ADELMAN:  It's from Hamlet, I believe.  The attack on the therapeutic community by litigants who have not been successful in court has, obviously, made many of these therapists adverse [sic] to getting involved in these cases.  They're getting sued, and there's plenty of therapy work for people who are not involved in litigation.  It's hard to believe that so many PhDs, therapists would refuse the work, but I can understand it when they find out that this is a case that's in litigation and an appeal and why ask for trouble, I guess?

That's tragic because you and these girls need some therapeutic assistance in an effort to repair the parental relationship, and now, quite frankly, I'm going to have to go to second tier individual.

LITIGANT:  What does that mean, Your Honor?

ADELMAN:  What that means is I'm going to have to use somebody who's not a PhD therapist.  I'm going to have to go down the stream to other therapeutic individuals because you and others like you have created a hostile environment to ther --

LITIGANT:  I would like that stricken, Your Honor, because I did not create this problem, and there's no proof that he contacted anybody.  There's no proof.

ADELMAN:  I have his sworn testimony.  What proof do you have?  You want to call those ten people into court?  You're calling the man a liar?

LITIGANT:  I'm questioning his credibility, yes I am.

ADELMAN:  All right.  The court finds him incredibly credible.  [sic]  There's no reason to think he's done anything other than what he said he has done.  The environment in Family Court and in family therapy is hostile and becoming difficult -- it's getting very difficult to find people, quite frankly, to even volunteer to be Special Masters to help people resolve their cases before they have to go to litigation, and I hope that the people who are creating the hostility think about that.

On Friday, Ms Rebimbas, however, went on to deny the existence of the transcript, to accuse the litigant of making up the judge's tyrannical behavior, and wrongly claim that the only proper channel for remedy is through the judicial branch, which has been established through now hundreds of individuals' testimony, as not the slightest bit capable of policing itself.

The transcript exposes some very serious questions:

• Why would licensed providers be afraid of being sued if everything they are doing is perfectly ethical?  Are they engaging in the same unethical practices that victims' evidence to the legislature and federal task force reflects?

• Are judges ordering therapy for children without there being a diagnosis?  Is a "custody evaluation" any more credible than peering into a crystal ball?  Could this be why these court-appointed providers accept only cash for their services?

• Why do judges have a tier system among state licensed treaters?  Are the providers who are members or directors of AFCC along with the judges and GALs given preference, such as the transcript references to CT Chapter president Linda Smith?

• Where are these multiple lawsuits against Connecticut therapists to which the judge alludes, and for which the judge blames the litigant standing before him?

• Was the judge threatening the litigant by referencing an explosive device harming her in his non-sequitur comment?

• Why would Ms Rebimbas try so hard to deny, or at least deflect from, the existence of this transcript?

Representative González has spent the past seven years hearing heart-wrenching testimony from hundreds of Connecticut citizens being cannibalized by the scam operating out of the Judicial Branch.  She has done exactly what she was elected to do, which is to represent the interests and needs of her constituents and the people of Connecticut -- not to protect the asset-raiding operation of the judges and GALs.  She has never backed down from her duties, even in the harshest of fights against lawlessness.  She got emotional and angry over the past few days, which proves a well-calibrated moral compass in the face of, at best, unprofessional behavior from a member of the Judiciary Committee.  At worst, she defended against a lobbyist installed to ensure that the moneyball game keeps the cash flowing to court-appointees.  Anyone with a heart should be very angry.

It seem that the Federal Task Force agrees.  I'll leave you with their own words about their current operation in Connecticut.  Remember to call the hotline and press #6 to report public corruption in Connecticut.

"U.S. Attorney Daly explained that the Task Force is focused on rooting out not only corrupt elected officials, but also federal, state and municipal employees who use their position for personal gain at the expense of the public good."

"The Task Force will also focus on the hundreds of millions of dollars that are distributed annually by federal and state agencies to ensure that taxpayer funds reach their intended recipients without corrupt interference."

“Public servants are entrusted by all of us to act in the best interests of the public they serve. It is important for the United States to bring to justice those who betray that trust,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Patricia M. Ferrick. “Public corruption at all levels of local, state, and federal government must not be tolerated, and this task force will leverage the best assets of the task force partner agencies to address the threat posed by corrupt public officials.”

The task force includes staff from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division, the Inspector General’s Offices of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

WTNH CHANNEL 8 REPORTS ON THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE HEARING ON CHIEF JUSTICE CHASE T. ROGERS!

For a link to the WTNH Channel 8 new report, please click on the link below:

http://wtnh.com/2015/04/10/states-highest-ranking-judge-under-fire/

MIDDLETOWN PRESS REPORTS JUDICIARY COMMITTEE APPROVED CHIEF JUSTICE CHASE T. ROGERS FOR REAPPOINTMENT!

Elizabeth Regan of CT New Junkie reports & republished in The Middletown Press as follows:

Members of the Judiciary Committee gave Chief Justice 

Chase T. Rogers a thumbs up Saturday morning after

roughly six hours of public testimony both for and

against the state’s top judge. 

The committee overwhelmingly approved Gov. 

Dannel P. Malloy’s renomination of Rogers

for a second eight-year term. She was

appointed to the position by former 

Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell.

Rogers said at her confirmation hearing Friday that

she has been successful in promoting transparency,

access to justice and diversity in the Connecticut

court system. She cited the accessibility of court

documents online, increased availability 

of pro bono services, enhanced resources for

those who choose to represent themselves,

and a move toward an individual calendaring

system so that one judge can hear an 

entire civil case from start to finish.

She said she plans to extend individual

calendaring to certain family court cases

through a pilot program beginning in 

September.

http://www.middletownpress.com/government-and-politics/20150411/judiciary-committee-gives-connecticut-chief-justice-chase-t-rogers-a-thumbs-up

ATTORNEY JAMES T. FLAHERTY SEEKS TO AVOID A DECISION IN NAPPO MALPRACTICE SUIT AGAINST HIM!

In a prior blog, I spoke about Attorney James T. Flaherty's legal abuse of his own clients.  He has a pattern of taking on cases where individuals are in considerable distress.  He then concocts major bills in the case, often double billing by working in tandem with his associates Attorney Sandi Girolamo and Attorney Pam Magnano.  Then because he often has little idea of what he is doing, Attorney Flaherty will wreck the case and leave his clients on the lurch.  

Some believe that Attorney James T. Flaherty simply doesn't know how to practice the law.  I actually believe that Attorney Flaherty blows off his cases in order to discredit his clients so that they are unable to retrieve their losses either through a complaint to Statewide Grievance or through Civil Court.  

Often, as their cases approach trial, either the day before or the morning of the trial, Attorney Flaherty will approach his clients and demand an immediate large payment.  When it came to me, Attorney Flaherty asked for an immediate $30,000 or else.  Then using one pretext or another, Attorney James T. Flaherty will withdraw from the case and then sue for payment of his inflated bills in civil court and then foreclose on your house.  

Attorney Flaherty has had several of these collection cases which he usually finds a way to settle.  However, the recent malpractice case of Mr. Jeffrey Nappo versus Attorney James T. Flaherty is apparently evading the usual script.  The case, which was originally filed on September 26, 2011, is still underway over four years later.  There will be a hearing in the case on April 22, 2015 and then a trial management hearing on June 9, 2015.  Of course, these have been scheduled before and have not been followed through on.  So what is going on with this case?  

Early in 2009, Jeff Nappo's mother had a post judgment matter in family court that simply needed to be resolved having to do with the release of a bond.  Jeff Nappo wasn't even a party to the case--he was just helping out his mother.  Mr. Nappo spoke to two well respected law firms before approaching Jim Flaherty, both of whom stated that they could handle the matter for approximately $2,500.00.  

When Jeff Nappo spoke to Attorney Flaherty, Flaherty stated that he would expect to receive a $10,000.00 retainer, but he anticipated that he wouldn't even come close to that amount in resolving the legal issue.  Fast forward, Jeff Nappo received a walloping bill because Attorney Flaherty had carried out his usual trick of adding Attorney Sandi Girolamo to the case and was essentially double billing by having her present during hearings and depositions.  

Later on, Jeff Nappo received a bill for November and December of that year which was an exact duplicate of earlier bills that he had received except there were different dates and a higher balance.  When Jeff confronted the accountant about these bills, reportedly she stated, "You're right.  We just make bills up for Jim."

Eventually, Jeff's mother's case went to a hearing and during a break in the hearing, Attorney Flaherty went up to Jeff Nappo and demanded another $10,000.00 or he stated he was going to walk out of the case and Mr. Nappo reluctantly provided him with ten checks for $1000.00 each.  After that, he didn't hear from Flaherty for another ten months.  

Ultimately, Attorney Flaherty went to court demanding that Mr. Jeff Nappo pay him additional money in legal fees and Mr. Nappo responded with several counterclaims including excessive billing, failing to complete the work within the agreed upon limits of expense as set forth between the parties, failing to file necessary and required paperwork as part of the representation, failing to communicate, and submitting bills with false charges on them as well as additional violations of the CUTPA (Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act).  

Of course, as I have said, this was well over four years ago.  So what is going on?  Why didn't this matter go to trial long ago like all other trials?  

I recall that when I brought my own malpractice case against Attorney James T. Flaherty for very similar practices, although I will add outright lying to the trial court to my list of complaints, it really did not last very long.  There was a year long period consisting mostly of discovery and some pretty ineffective pretrial hearings.  Finally, we ended up in court before Judge Domnarski  who pretty much said, we are going to trial and I am giving it two days and that's it.  

You will forgive me for being somewhat cynical, but I can't help thinking that this extraordinary situation where the case does not go to trial and there are ongoing continuances is an attempt by the Trial Court to simply avoid trial.  

Bottom line is they want Jeff Nappo to settle the way all the cases prior to Jeff have settled.  

For over a decade, Attorney James T. Flaherty has used the Hartford Civil Court as his own personal enforcement agency to wrest vast sums of money out of his former clients.  What networks of interdependence and mutual support Attorney Flaherty developed during these years to be able to wield such influence, who is to know.  But the evidence of the impropriety of the Civil Court in this area stands right before us in the ongoing Nappo case and in the records of the other 69 or so cases with very similar outcomes that Attorney James T. Flaherty initiated against his own clients.  

No other attorney comes near such an extraordinary record of pursuing his own clients in this manner.  

The Nappo case is an embarrassment to the Trial Court because it threatens to put on the record the fact that the Connecticut Judicial Branch has been allowing an attorney to conduct raiding campaigns against his own clients for years.  They would like to sweep this matter under the rug.  

For years, Attorney James T. Flaherty has been the teflon attorney--no grievance to Statewide Grievance has been able to stick.  He has evaded any kind of accountability for his cases in family court, walking out of these cases at will, even when he is right  in the middle of trial.  Nothing phases him, no disciplinary committee stops him, and judges will stick their necks out for him seemingly without hesitation, i.e. Judge Jorge Simon who praised his work in open court and Judge Solomon who found his work to be exemplary in a letter to the disciplinary committee.  

The problem, however, with trying to handle the Flaherty/Nappo matter with another coverup is that after the case is resolved, Attorney James T. Flaherty has every intention of coming back to Court with two more of his recently acquired victims.  Jim Flaherty has an addiction to money and such a gross disregard for how he obtains it that if the Court system doesn't do something to stop him, Flaherty's feeding frenzy will never end.   It is time for the trial court to refuse any further settlements with Attorney James T. Flaherty and to insist that the Nappo matter goes to trial right away.  Not only that, it also needs to make sure that the trial is fair, not the trumped up piece of nonsense that other litigants have been stuck with up to this point.

HOW KATHI SORRENTINO WAS JAILED FOR WRITING A CHECK OUT TO THE WRONG PERSON!

On June 11, 2013, Kathi Sorrentino came to court with two separate checks--one made out to her ex-husband Saverino Sorrentino and the other made out to his attorney, Kevin Finch--each made out for $1,000.  When the parties finally arrived before Judge Corinne Klatt, the judge stated "Last week the Court found the defendant in contempt and ordered her to pay a one thousand dollar fine today."  

Still, there was a possible way out of the fine. Judge Klatt had also told Kathi Sorrentino she could avoid paying the fine, if she obtained mental health treatment to stop her from filing so many motions.  

Like the vast majority of judges in Connecticut, instead of acknowledging the domestic violence that Sam Sorrentino had committed against Kathi, and for which there was ample evidence, Judge Klatt preferred to attribute all the problems in the case to Kathi Sorrentino's mental illness.

All I can say is that Kathi can thank her lucky stars that Judge Corinne Klatt didn't call her "intelligent" the way so many judges describe other victims of domestic violence and stalking through the court system. 

Putting the joking aside, however, the fact is that using a mental health diagnosis or calling someone "crazy" for the purpose of discriminating against a family court litigant is a violation of the non-discrimination statutes of the State of Connecticut.  Family Court Judges are not allowed to ascribe the refusal of an abused woman to accept the abuse to some sort of psychiatric problem, not only because it violates the Constitutional mandate against discrimination based upon disability, but also because it violates the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 and As Amended in 2008.  

Still, blithely unaware of these mandates against discrimination, and happily complaisant in her right to call a person who doesn't agree with her crazy, Judge Corinne Klatt stated as follows:  [Filing many motions is a sign not of] mental illness but some sort of, some type of mental health issue...the repetitive nature of these filings indicates to me...that it was almost so compulsive that it might be indicative of some of mental health issue..."

Apparently, on June 4, 2013, Judge Klatt had stated that if Kathi Sorrentino could make a good faith showing that she had attempted to obtain some counseling for this so-called mental health issue, she would consider canceling the fine of $1,000 for the order of contempt.  What Kathi did was see a person at her local domestic violence shelter.  The counselor at the domestic violence shelter basically said that it looked as though the problem that was going on was that Kathi did not have an attorney.  

Immediately, Judge Klatt intervened and said, you can't say that; it's hearsay.  

But the DV shelter advocate was correct.  Every self-represented party I know has had a problem with filing what the Court considers to be far too many motions.  Of course, I know what the Court really wants is for all of us self-represented parties to do is shut up and go away.  So even one motion from a self-represented party is much too much as far as a Judge is concerned.  Still, I hardly think it is fair to single out Kathi Sorrentino for showing evidence of a problem that pretty much every self-represented party  in the State of Connecticut has.  I myself was fined $35,000 in attorneys fees for filing too many motions.  

So, I guess in comparison to me, Kathi Sorrentino should consider herself lucky.  $1,000 is nothing in comparison to $35,000!  

However, since when does Judge Corinne Klatt think it is acceptable to define Kathi Sorrentino as mentally ill or intransigent based upon behavior that pretty much every self represented party is guilty of.  Doesn't this all again add up to an unconstitutional attack on the right Citizens of Connecticut have to represent themselves at all.  Isn't this a way to send the message, sure represent yourself, but as soon as you cross a single line, we are going to fine you into bankruptcy and call you nuts?

The bottom line is that Judge Corinne Klatt did not consider the letter acceptable and proceeded to demand that Kathi Sorrentino pay the $1,000 contempt fine.  At that point Judge Klatt demanded that Kathi pay the fine to the Clerk of the Court.  Unfortunately, since Ms. Sorrentino did not have enough money herself to pay the fine, her daughter had written out both of the checks to different people--one to Sam Sorrentino and the other to his Attorney Kevin Finch and there were no other checks available to write out to the Court Clerk.  

Immediately, both Judge Corinne Klatt and Attorney Kevin Finch dumped blame on Kathi Sorrentino for not knowing who to write the checks out for.

Attorney Finch:  Again, this is just another effort of Mrs. Sorrentino to delay matters.

Judge Corinne Klatt:  I ordered her a week ago to come in with a payment of a thousand dollars.  I gave you the week as a courtesy more than anything to you.  I gave you a week in which to pay the fine, ma'am.  And you come in today without a fine payment."

Ok, well, Judge Klatt, not exactly.  She had the fine payment, but it was written out to the wrong person.    While Judge Klatt insisted that she had told Kathi Sorrentino who to write the check out to at the hearing on June 4, 2013, a review of the transcript for that date indicated that she had not.

And, you see, here's the thing, how would anyone know that the fees on a motion for contempt would be payable to the clerk of the court.  As Kathi Sorrentino stated, "Nobody told me who to make the checks out to and if you look in the records, nobody did."  I have to say that I've been in and out of the Court for a decade and I sure didn't know that you would have to give the fine to the Clerk of the Court and not to opposing counsel.  If its news to me, I'm not surprised its news to Kathi Sorrentino.  

These kinds of scenarios show up in court repeatedly where the Judge and the opposing attorney in an abusive case will set up a major problem that's simply invented, but a self represented party wouldn't know, and put on a big show of outrage and indignation just to demoralize the victim of legal stalking through the court system.  This is why victims of long term stalking develop symptoms of PTSD and often lose their ability to function in daily life or hold down a job.  And, of course, that's intentional as well.

So what did Kathi Sorrentino do here, stuck in the middle of court without a proper check.  What she said to Judge Klatt is give me a little time and I will go and get a proper check and be back by lunchtime.  But that would be much too easy.  Instead, Judge Corinne Klatt decided to put Kathi Sorrentino in jail because she hadn't written the check out to the right person.  

You know, I have a sneaky idea how the Court could have avoided putting Kathi Sorrentino in jail.  She could have had Kathi hand over the check she had written out to Attorney Kevin Finch and then Attorney Finch could have written out a check to the Court Clerk!  That could have been another approach to getting the fine paid.  But that would have been much too easy, wouldn't it?  

The bottom line, though, is that if there is any concern that a self-represented party might end up incarcerated, isn't that party entitled to representation by a Court appointed attorney?  So what happened to that law?  Not important if you are too busy abusing someone?

I know that many of you reading this blog will think that situations like this are the exception.  Unfortunately, this isn't so.  They are the rule.  This is why we so desperately need to reform our family court system.

As a final note, Kathi Sorrentino did send a complaint about this incident to the Judicial Review Council, but by the time she did so the year long statute of limitations had gone by.  This is what happens frequently when judges abuse litigants; it ordinarily takes at least a year to recover from the shock before any one of them begins to think about filing a complaint and by then the opportunity is gone.  As one of the reforms of our legal system, I think the deadline should be extended up to two years.

HARTFORD COURANT REPORTS THAT THE DOJ DECRIES LACK OF INVESTIGATIVE GRAND JURY IN CT!

According to the Hartford Courant:

NEW HAVEN - Federal law enforcement officers, struck by what they called the persistent criminal behavior of government officials in Connecticut, said Wednesday that they have created a multi-agency, federal task force to fight public corruption in the state.

U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly, who announced the task force and whose office will run it, said graft has become so pervasive in Connecticut that it is "discouraging and troubling" and a "persistently present problem."

She also questioned the legislature's refusal to provide local prosecutors with effective crime fighting tools. "High profile government corruption persists in Connecticut," she said, "So the time is opportune for us to put together a top notch team."

For more information on this article, please click on the link below:

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-corruption-task-force-0205-20150204-story.html

CT MIRROR REPORTS DOJ PUTS BILLBOARDS UP TO ENCOURAGE THE PUBLIC TO REPORT CORRUPTION!

Brian Lockhart of the CT Mirror reports as follows:

BRIDGEPORT -- Welcome to Connecticut's largest city.

If you have a lead on any government corruption, please contact the FBI.

Following last week's announcement of the creation of a new, multi-agency federal task force to help police "Corrupticut", billboards promoting the initiative have popped up outside Bridgeport, Waterbury and Hartford -- three cities that have been plagued by scandals.

Bridgeport's G-man advertisement appears on a digital billboard visible to motorists approaching downtown from I-95 Southbound.

For more information on this topic, please click on the link below:

http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/FBI-goes-after-Corrupticut-with-billboards-6073595.php