Public defender overseers resigned without explanation

At least four of the five members of the commission that oversees the Connecticut Division of Public Defender Services abruptly resigned this week less than a year after the appointment of Chief Public Defender TaShun Bowden-Lewis.

No explanations were given for the resignations that threaten the continued, smooth operation of the office that provides state-funded defense attorneys for indigent defendants in the state criminal courts.

A half-dozen lawyers who interact regularly with the public defenders said they have been told the resignations were the result of what have become intractable disagreements between Bowden-Lewis and the board that hired her over her decisions concerning hiring, management and spending.

Bowden-Lewis, the first Black woman to be appointed as the state’s chief public defender, has retained a private lawyer to represent her.

Attorney General William Tong has hired another law firm “to investigate allegations made within the public defender’s office,” a spokeswoman for Tong said. She would not elaborate on the allegations.

Bowden-Lewis and others in her office did not respond to repeated calls for information about the resignations and whether they would affect the work of the office. The commission members also did not respond to repeated calls.

Gov. Ned Lamont’s office said he planned to work quickly to see that the newly vacant seats on the commission are filled. A spokesman for the governor said he is not aware of the reasons behind the resignations.

“We are going to work with our other appointing authorities to make sure that operations continue,” spokesman Adam Joseph said.

Appointments to the five-member commission are divided among the governor, the leaders of the state Senate and House of Representatives, and the state judiciary.

Those who resigned are Chairman Allison M. Near, a lawyer in private practice in New Haven appointed by the governor; Superior Court Judges Laura F. Baldini and Keven S. Russo, appointed by the state’s Chief Justice; and Aimee C. Golbert, a licensed social worker from West Hartford who had been a commission member since her appointment by former Senate President Kevin Sullivan in 2004.

It was unclear whether the fifth commission member, former state Rep William R. Dyson of New Haven, appointed by the House leadership, remains on the commission.

None of the commission members responded to repeated phone calls.