Man convicted of threatening judge appeals case

HARTFORD — A Connecticut man convicted of threatening the judge in his divorce case is arguing free speech rights in taking his case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Edward Taupier, of Cromwell, has filed documents asking the court to hear his appeal of a Connecticut Supreme Court ruling in September that rejected his free speech arguments.

Taupier is serving an

18-month prison sentence for threatening Judge Elizabeth Bozzuto. Prosecutors said Taupier sent an email to six acquaintances in 2014 that described Bozzuto’s home and how certain rifles could be fired at it from a nearby cemetery.

He was sentenced to four more months behind bars in September for Facebook posts urging people to kill judges and employees at the Middletown courthouse.

Taupier, who is being represented by New Haven criminal defense attorney Norm Pattis, asked the nation’s highest court Monday to hear his appeal.

“We made an extremely strong petition to the Supreme Court. I’ve had calls from law schools around the country offering collaboration. I look forward to the court decision and hope for a chance to argue it in Washington,” Pattis said.

He was convicted of first-degree threatening, two counts of disorderly conduct and second-degree breach of peace in January 2016.

For the tampering conviction, Taupier was originally arrested in 2013 on charges of voyeurism with malice and disseminating voyeuristic materials. He videotaped naked massages with a sexual partner, unaware she was being recorded, then uploaded the clips to internet porn sites, according to investigators.

He was sentenced to four more months behind bars in September for Facebook posts urging people to kill judges and employees at the Middletown courthouse. State police were contacted by Middletown court officials in January 2017 about concerning social media posts that threatened the safety of court staff and members of the Cromwell Police Department, according to a police report.

The state police investigator who applied for the

warrant wrote the Facebook posts “advocate, encourage and incite violence against persons and property.”

In mid-April, Taupier accepting a plea bargain for tampering with a witness. A Middletown judge sentenced him to three years in jail, execution suspended, and five years of probation.