Re: 2/14/02 - New Haven Register: FOIC orders Jovin file opened
FOIC orders Jovin file opened
Christopher Hoffman, Register Staff February 14, 2002
HARTFORD — The state Freedom of Information Commission ordered the New Haven Police Department Wednesday to release large portions of its files on the unsolved murder of Yale University student Suzanne Jovin.
Attorneys for the city of New Haven and Jovin's sister, Ellen, immediately said they would appeal the decision to Superior Court, making it unlikely that any documents in the Dec. 4, 1998, homicide will be released soon.
"We have no choice but to appeal," said Deputy Corporation Counsel Martin S. Echter after the packed hearing. "We will take the necessary steps to make sure this investigation proceeds as efficiently and confidentially as possible."
David N. Rosen of New Haven, attorney for Ellen Jovin, called the commission's decision a potential "disaster" that could reduce the chances of Jovin's murderer ever being arrested and prosecuted.
"My hope at this point is that this decision is written in water and will be overturned in due time," Rosen said.
Jeffrey Mitchell of Westport, who brought the complaint early last year with the Hartford Courant, said the ruling pleased him.
Mitchell, a friend of James Van de Velde, the only named suspect in the case, said the information should come out so the public can learn how the case was handled. He questioned, for example, why police didn't reveal until last year that DNA found under Jovin's fingernails didn't match Van de Velde's.
"I think it's important to know what the police knew and when they knew it," Mitchell said. "These things could have been released right away, but it seems, they were so busy focusing on one person (Van de Velde) that they excluded other avenues they could have taken."
Van de Velde, Jovin's instructor, is suing New Haven police for naming him a suspect in the case.
FOI Commissioner Dennis O'Connor acted as the hearing officer in the complaint and personally reviewed the approximately 4,500 pages in the file.
On his recommendation the full commission ordered the release of the 911 tapes recorded the night of Jovin's murder and 494 pages of newspaper and magazine articles.
It further ordered the remaining pages released, but allowed police to withhold certain information that would reveal the identity of witnesses or informants who have not been publicly identified.
It's unclear how much of the documents would remain exempt under the exception.
Under the state's FOI law, police departments may bar the release of criminal files by showing that the information would endanger witnesses or informants or hinder future prosecution of the case.
In his decision, O'Connor criticized New Haven for trying to claim a blanket exemption instead of proving why each piece of information should not be released. He noted, for example, that the department failed to provide press releases and newspaper articles already in the public domain.
"You must offer proof to substantiate your claim," O'Connor said to the commission Wednesday before it took its vote. "You must show how it would prejudice … the prosecution of the case. This, the respondent (the city) did not do."
O'Connor also questioned the city's argument that all the documents have to stay secret because the police don't know which might be used in court.
"However, when it's more than three years ago, and they tell us they still don't know which of the 4,500 documents they will use, I think they're stretching it," he said.
O'Connor had even harsher criticism for Lt. Bryan Norwood, head of New Haven's detective division, saying that his testimony during the April 16, 2001, hearing in the case was "not accurate." Norwood testified that the department never granted private investigator Andrew Rosenzweig access to the Jovin murder file, even though Rosenzweig had the use of a desk and a phone during regular visits to the New Haven Police Department.
Rosenzweig was hired by Yale to investigate the murder. He is a former high ranking detective in the New York Police Department.
O'Connor said he concluded that Norwood's testimony was "not credible" after finding a letter from Norwood's "superior" which said private investigators had asked to see the Jovin file and were given full cooperation. The contents of the letter, which was sent to the New York Police Department, offers further evidence that Norwood's testimony was inaccurate, O'Connor said Wednesday.
"The author (of the letter) is requesting this expert assistance based on the advice of the private investigator who would have not have done so without reviewing the file," O'Connor said.
O'Connor did not identify the writer of the letter, which was apparently part of the murder file. Chief of Police Melvin Wearing and Assistant Chief Douglas MacDonald are Norwood's superiors.
Because testimony at FOI hearings is under oath, O'Connor's conclusions raise the question of whether Norwood committed perjury, a felony.
Norwood, who attended Wednesday's proceeding, declined to answer questions.
Wearing, who was also at the hearing, defended Norwood, saying he has "all the faith and confidence in Norwood's personal character and integrity." Asked if he would order an internal investigation into Norwood's testimony, Wearing said, "None of that. I have no comment."
After reviewing the documents and the articles in the file, O'Connor said he was surprised how much of the information was leaked to the press.
Rosen confirmed that leaks were rampant for much of the investigation, a problem that is now under control. Asked if the Jovin family complained about the leaks, he said, "I'm not going to talk about their relationship with them (the police)." He did say that opening the file would invade the family's privacy.
"We have a situation where a family has poured out their most private, confidential information for the purposes of forwarding the investigation," Rosen said.
The family revealed personal details of Jovin's life to police, details they were told would be kept confidential, he said.
The files could also tip the killer to what police know about him, Rosen said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
©New Haven Register 2002
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