By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo,
HARTFORDAttorneys for
former Milford police Officer Jason Anderson went before the state Appellate
Court Thursday in an attempt to get his conviction for the deaths of two Orange
teens in a 2009 car crash overturned.
While Anderson did not attend
the hearing, several relatives and friends of the two teenagers came to listen.
One tearful woman who attended
summed up the feelings of the families afterward, “We feel there is no end and
no justice.”
Anderson was convicted at trial
in 2012 of reckless driving and two counts of misconduct with a motor vehicle.
While Anderson, who was fired, was sentenced to serve five years in prison in
early 2013, he remains free on $50,000 bond pending his appeal.
According to police, Anderson
was driving 94 mph at 2:15 a.m. on June 13, 2009, on the Boston Post Road in
Orange when his cruiser struck a car operated by David Servin, 19.
Both Servin and his passenger,
Ashlie Krakowski, also 19, died from their injuries.
Anderson was not responding to
an emergency at the time of the crash, and he did not have lights or sirens
activated, court documents show.
Servin’s vehicle, which was
headed in the opposite direction on the Post Road, turned left into the path of
Anderson’s cruiser.
Servin’s blood-alcohol content
was at 0.14, or seven times over the legal limit for a teenager, and he didn’t
stop for a blinking red light, documents show.
Anderson’s appeal centers on
the trial jury’s decision on whether Servin’s conduct was an “intervening
cause” of the crash.
The trial judge told jurors
that if they believed Servin’s conduct was a contributing cause, it would not
relieve Anderson of criminal responsibility, but if they thought Servin’s
conduct was an intervening cause, then it would relieve him of criminal
responsibility.
When jurors initially returned
their verdict with guilty findings, they answered on a special interrogatory
that Servin’s conduct constituted an “intervening cause” for the collision.
This was inconsistent with a
guilty verdict, however, so the trial judge again provided jurors with
instructions, and jurors sent out a note saying they agree Servin’s actions
“contributed to” the accident.
Subsequently, jurors answered
“No” when asked if Servin’s conduct was an “intervening cause,” documents show.
Assistant State’s Attorney
Timothy Sugrue, who represented the state at Thursday’s hearing, argued that
the trial court properly directed the jury to resume deliberations, and called
the court’s instructions “fair and balanced.”
Sugrue asked the Appellate
Court to affirm the trial court’s judgment of conviction.
“The guilty verdicts make it
clear that Mr. Anderson was the proximate cause of this crash,” Sugrue said.
“The court did not commit an error.”
Attorney Daniel Scholfield of
New Haven represented Anderson Thursday, accompanied by Anderson’s attorney at
trial, Hugh Keefe of New Haven.
Scholfield asked the Appellate
Court to vacate the conviction, arguing that since jurors initially indicated
Servin’s conduct was an intervening cause, an acquittal should have been
entered.
“The elements of the offenses
were all subject to intervening cause — when you have a finding of fact by the
jury, that yes, there was an intervening cause, there should have been an
acquittal,” Scholfield said. “Had the interrogatory been read first, before the
verdict, the case would have ended. The trial court was not permitted to send
the jury back to deliberate.”
Scholfield told the Appellate
Court that if it is disinclined to grant an acquittal, then if it ordered a new
trial, it would be the “next best thing.”
If Anderson were unsuccessful
in getting his conviction overturned, he would have to serve five years in
prison, then he would be on probation for three years following his release. He
would have to serve a full 10 years if he violated the terms of probation.
