Tension between top state prosecutors raises concern for justice commission
After addressing concerns over the working relationship between two of Connecticut’s top law enforcement officials, the Criminal Justice Commission voted Tuesday to reappoint Chief State’s Attorney Richard J. Colangelo Jr. and Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Kevin D. Lawlor.
The vote came after three meetings over the past 40 days to consider the reappointments for the top prosecutor and his second-incommand who oversees operations in the Division of Criminal Justice. Both were reappointed with unanimous votes.
Calling it the “elephant in the room,” Commissioner Reginald Dwayne Betts asked Colangelo if there were any problems between the two given that Lawlor was a finalist last year for the chief state’s attorney role, which ultimately went to Colangelo.
“There were challenges.
Kevin and I worked through them,” Colangelo told the commission Tuesday. “It is a situation where we have different skill sets.”
Both longtime prosecutors in Connecticut, Colangelo said there were “growing pains as there is any new relationship working together.”
He went on to say: “I think the division is in a really
good place.”
When offered an opportunity to make remarks Tuesday, Lawlor said he understood that comments made in earlier meetings may have given the impression that he was not enthusiastic about his position in the DCJ.
“That could not be further from the truth and if I could give you that impression, I
do sincerely, wholeheartedly apologize for any answers that led you to that conclusion,” Lawlor said.
Given the concerns, Lawlor said: “I wholeheartedly agree that this is a team operation. That [Colangelo’s] success is the division’s success, and it’s our success.”
Colangelo, a career prosecutor, was appointed in January 2020 to finish the
term of longtime Chief State’s Attorney Kevin Kane, who retired in December 2019 after 13 years leading the division and more than four decades as a prosecutor.
Before becoming chief state’s attorney, Colangelo served for about five years as the state’s attorney in Stamford, where he oversaw the investigation into the disappearance and presumed death of Jennifer Dulos and the ensuing prosecution of her estranged husband Fotis Dulos. Fotis Dulos died by suicide weeks after he was charged with murder.
Since his appointment, Colangelo has helped the division and its cadre of prosecutors navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, which upended court proceedings across Connecticut amid closures and new restrictions.
Colangelo, the eighth chief state’s attorney since the role was created in 1973, will serve a five-year term.
The commission also voted to reappoint Lawlor, first appointed deputy chief state’s attorney in 2018, to a four-year term overseeing DCJ operations.
Lawlor previously was the state’s attorney in the Ansonia/Milford Judicial District, where his prosecutions included Christopher Plaskon, who was convicted of killing 16-year-old Jonathan Law High School student Maren Sanchez in 2014.