Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Murder Mystery: Who Killed Yale Student Suzanne Jovin? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (929)	4/17/2001 3:53:02 AM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1397

Re: 4/17/01 - Hartford Courant: Jovin Files Ordered Released Jovin Files Ordered Released By GARY LIBOW The Hartford Courant April 17, 2001 The state Freedom of Information Commission Monday ordered New Haven police to hand over its extensive investigative file into the 1998 killing of a Yale senior for review by a hearing officer and other staff members. Hearing officer Barbara Housen gave police and New Haven's assistant corporation counsel two weeks to provide the estimated 10 to 12 binders of investigative documents into the fatal stabbing of Suzanne Jovin. The Courant and Jeff Mitchell, a high school friend of suspect James Van de Velde, both filed complaints charging that New Haven Police Chief Melvin Wearing violated FOI laws by withholding documents outlining the investigation into Jovin's death. Jovin was found stabbed the night of Dec. 4, 1998, about 2 miles from campus. Housen said she and FOI staff members will go through the documents to determine which, if any, should be exempted from public view by law before rendering a recommendation to the full commission. The full commission may also review the files, she said. An inventory of the documents will be provided to the complainants. Mitchell requested a record of the 911 tape reporting Jovin's injuries and other information law enforcement authorities shared with Andy Rosenzweig, a private investigator hired by Yale to crack the stymied murder investigation. Les Gura, The Courant's city editor, requested the entire Jovin file. Gura testified that Wearing and Rosenzweig told him the office of the state's attorney provided the private investigator documents from the Jovin file. Wearing, in a March 7 letter refusing Gura's request, stated that release of information regarding the ongoing investigation is exempt because it would be "prejudicial to future law enforcement action and could compromise the safety of individuals who have provided information to police." Housen had the task of refereeing a contentious two-hour hearing Monday. Attorney Ralph Elliot represented The Courant, Mitchell represented himself and New Haven police were defended by New Haven Assistant Corporation Counsel Donna Chance Dowdie and Assistant State's Attorney James G. Clark. Lt. Brian Norwood, who heads the police department's investigative services unit, testified that the department has discussed the Jovin killing with the private investigator and provides Rosenzweig with a desk and other amenities. . But, Norwood stressed, the department never gave him or any member of the public access to Jovin investigative documents. When Elliot asked Norwood whether he knew if the office of the state's attorney has shared documents with Rosenzweig, Norwood declined to answer on Clark's advice. Clark also contends that the office of the state's attorney is exempt from FOI rules. Noting that Jovin was stabbed multiple times, Clark argued that release of investigative documents would put witnesses at risk. Therefore, the documents would be exempt from release under FOI regulations, he said. Norwood said witnesses and informants would be vulnerable should the records be made public. "The person who committed the crime is still out there," Norwood said. "That poses a danger for anyone involved in the case." Gura, who recently wrote an extensive Sunday magazine piece about the Jovin killing and about the fact that police named former Yale lecturer Van de Velde as a suspect, said that information in the Jovin file is relevant to the newspaper's continued reporting of the case and to the public's right to know. ©2001 MyWay Corp. Portions ©2001 ctnow.com All rights reserved. ctnow.com