Derby, Connecticut, Prosecutor suspended for ethics
Matthew Higbee, mhigbee@ctpost.com. 05/21/2007
Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Paul Gaetano was suspended 60 days without pay Monday for ethical misconduct over the transfer of a drunken-driving case for the son of a Derby Superior Court judge. Chief State's Attorney Kevin T. Kane and Kevin Lawlor, state's attorney for the Ansonia/Milford judicial district, announced the suspension, ordered under an agreement entered into by Gaetano, the Division of Criminal Justice and the Connecticut Association of Prosecutors, the state prosecutors' union.
"Mr. Gaetano acknowledges misconduct based on the impropriety of his actions in obtaining a transfer of a case from the Bridgeport Judicial District to the Ansonia/Milford Judicial District," the agreement stated, according to a prepared release from the state criminal justice division. In addition to the suspension, which runs 60 consecutive calendar days, the agreement also requires Gaetano to pay for and complete an ethics course designated by the Division of Criminal Justice. When he returns to work, Gaetano will be on probation for one year. His continued role as the supervisory prosecutor is "pending the outcome of the probationary period," said Mark Dupuis, spokesman for the office of the chief state's attorney. Gaetano was cited for misconduct in his handling of the case of Joseph Sylvester Jr., the son of longtime Derby Superior Court Judge Joseph H. Sylvester. On Dec. 11, the younger Sylvester, 49, of Meadow Street, Ansonia, was arrested by State Police on the Route 8-25 connector in Bridgeport and charged with driving under the influence and reckless driving. According to police, Sylvester was speeding in a yellow Ford Mustang when he struck a van, and later failed a field sobriety test. Sylvester took a breath test, which revealed a blood-alcohol level of 0.085, police said. The legal blood-alcohol level is 0.08.
Sylvester's case was pending in Bridgeport Superior Court when Gaetano requested that it be transferred to Derby Superior Court, according to the release by the state criminal justice division. Gaetano had asked for the transfer at the request of the elder Sylvester, the release stated.
Judge Sylvester was suspended in February after Kane launched an administrative investigation. On April 28, before the investigation was complete, the father died after a long illness. He was 77.
Dupuis said the investigation is now closed. Gaetano, who was promoted to supervisory assistant state's attorney in June 2003, is paid an annual salary of $112,452.
Matthew Higbee, Naugatuck Valley bureau chief, can be reached at 736-5440.
Retrieved May 23, 2007 from http://www.connpost.com/localnews/ci_5952536
Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Paul Gaetano was suspended 60 days without pay Monday for ethical misconduct over the transfer of a drunken-driving case for the son of a Derby Superior Court judge. Chief State's Attorney Kevin T. Kane and Kevin Lawlor, state's attorney for the Ansonia/Milford judicial district, announced the suspension, ordered under an agreement entered into by Gaetano, the Division of Criminal Justice and the Connecticut Association of Prosecutors, the state prosecutors' union.
"Mr. Gaetano acknowledges misconduct based on the impropriety of his actions in obtaining a transfer of a case from the Bridgeport Judicial District to the Ansonia/Milford Judicial District," the agreement stated, according to a prepared release from the state criminal justice division. In addition to the suspension, which runs 60 consecutive calendar days, the agreement also requires Gaetano to pay for and complete an ethics course designated by the Division of Criminal Justice. When he returns to work, Gaetano will be on probation for one year. His continued role as the supervisory prosecutor is "pending the outcome of the probationary period," said Mark Dupuis, spokesman for the office of the chief state's attorney. Gaetano was cited for misconduct in his handling of the case of Joseph Sylvester Jr., the son of longtime Derby Superior Court Judge Joseph H. Sylvester. On Dec. 11, the younger Sylvester, 49, of Meadow Street, Ansonia, was arrested by State Police on the Route 8-25 connector in Bridgeport and charged with driving under the influence and reckless driving. According to police, Sylvester was speeding in a yellow Ford Mustang when he struck a van, and later failed a field sobriety test. Sylvester took a breath test, which revealed a blood-alcohol level of 0.085, police said. The legal blood-alcohol level is 0.08.
Sylvester's case was pending in Bridgeport Superior Court when Gaetano requested that it be transferred to Derby Superior Court, according to the release by the state criminal justice division. Gaetano had asked for the transfer at the request of the elder Sylvester, the release stated.
Judge Sylvester was suspended in February after Kane launched an administrative investigation. On April 28, before the investigation was complete, the father died after a long illness. He was 77.
Dupuis said the investigation is now closed. Gaetano, who was promoted to supervisory assistant state's attorney in June 2003, is paid an annual salary of $112,452.
Matthew Higbee, Naugatuck Valley bureau chief, can be reached at 736-5440.
Retrieved May 23, 2007 from http://www.connpost.com/localnews/ci_5952536