The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Retiring prosecutor: Victims a priority now
BRIDGEPORT — John Smriga is retiring in a few days as state’s attorney, but you wouldn’t know it looking at his desk.
It’s cluttered with paperwork.
Smriga, 66, is balancing a computer keyboard on his lap while talking into a cell phone pressed to his right ear. Another cellphone buzzes for his attention in the desk in front of him. His glasses are perched precariously on his forehead.
Much has changed since Smriga was hired as a young state prosecutor in Stamford nearly 40 years ago.
“A lot of what we do now is not directly related to prosecution but is related to people who are victims of crime,” he said. “That was not given attention at the start of my career. There were cases resolved regularly then where no contact had been made with a victim.”
For the past nearly 10 years, he has served as the area’s top state law enforcement officer, a title he claims he hates, and during that time Smriga has made it a point to personally talk to the families of victims of serious crimes after each court hearing.
“I tell victims’ families that I can’t promise I can make things better for them, but I will endeavor not to make things worse and we do that by communicating with people,” he said.
“John had great concern for crime victims, particularly the families of homicide victims,” said state Appellate Court Judge Robert Devlin, the former presiding criminal court judge in Bridgeport. “They would come to court confused and worried. John would painstakingly explain the court process to them and gain their trust and respect. At the end of the case, they almost always felt that justice had been done,” the judge said.
Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney C. Robert Satti Jr. has worked with Smriga for more than 35 years.
“He is compassionate and caring about crime victims, while balancing the rights of the accused with the needs of the community at large,” Satti said. “He has worked tirelessly to make sure that this office performs its duties with the same excellence he brought to his job every day. His work as state’s attorney has made this community a better place.”
At 6 feet 7 inches, Smriga stands out in a crowd. But he prefers to remain in the background, never giving press conferences and rarely giving interviews. That might be attributable to his upbringing.
He grew up in Bridgeport’s East Side; most of his family worked at the Remington Arms munitions factory here. He attended Thomas Hooker School here and then took on a series of jobs including dock boy at a local marina to earn his way through Fairfield Preparatory High School and the University of Pennsylvania. Before earning his law degree at St. John’s University, Smriga worked as an orderly at a local psychiatric hospital.
“It has been a substantial advantage to me and my ability to serve the community to have been born and raised and lived in Bridgeport,” he said.
In June 1984, he was promoted to assistant state’s attorney. In November of that year he was appointed an assistant state’s attorney at Golden Hill Street courthouse in Bridgeport. He transferred to the Main Street courthouse in March 1986. In July 1995, he was designated a senior assistant state’s attorney and was promoted to supervisory assistant state’s attorney in October 1997.
In July 2009 Smriga was named the new state’s attorney for the Fairfield Judicial District, succeeding his former boss, Jonathan Benedict, who held the post for the past 12 years.
As the state’s attorney for the Fairfield Judicial District, Smriga has supervised about two dozen prosecutors in two courthouses and more than a dozen inspectors. The state’s attorney also oversees the investigation and prosecution of all crimes committed within the judicial district, which includes Bridgeport, Fairfield, Trumbull, Easton, Monroe and Stratford.
He has supervised the prosecutions of some very high-profile cases including Kyle Navin, who is serving 55 years for killing his parents; Richard Roszkowski, convicted of killing a Bridgeport woman, her young daughter and a Milford landscaper in 2006, sentenced to death and then had that sentence changed to life in prison; and Tyree Smith, a Florida man who was tried for hacking a homeless man to death and then eating his brain and eyeballs. Smith, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity, was committed to a state mental hospital after the notorious 2013 trial.
Being a head prosecutor now is much different than it was 20 years ago, Smriga said.
They are constantly involved in a three-way tug of war among supporters of victims’ rights, those demanding tough sentences for defendants who use guns in crimes and those who campaign for judicial reform, lobbying for programs over imprisonment.
Because of reforms, the state’s prison population is at a 25-year low two prisons and portions of two others have been closed. But the American Civil Liberties Union is still very concerned about the danger of mass incarceration in this state — asking candidates for chief state’s attorney what they would do to prevent mass incarceration.
“Although it’s obvious incarceration for people convicted of crimes should be a last resort, it is a necessary consequence in serious cases,” Smriga said. “Our approach is not how we can put someone in jail, but to consider other options first and only recommend incarceration when there is no other option. And, in fact, an overwhelming majority of our cases are resolved without incarceration.”
He said there is a challenge to balance the interests of the accused to have appropriate sentences — and the rights of victims, to ensure their interests are handled appropriately as well.
“That is something that depends on having all the facts and circumstances of each individual case,” he said.
Devlin, who presided over pretrial conferences on criminal cases when he was in Bridgeport, said Smriga had the one indispensable quality of a really good prosecutor — discernment.
“He could quickly recognize a serious and violent offender and pursue those cases energetically. At the same time, he realized that people — particularly young people — can make mistakes. He would give them breaks that they would not get in other courts.”
Smriga took an active role in Project Longevity, a federally- and locally-funded program to try and end violence in the state’s three biggest cities. Participants regularly meet with alleged gang members in an effort to get them to abandon the life style.
“Project Longevity was a benefit that gave us the opportunity to reach out to the community,” said Smriga. “It’s a useful tool as one of the arrows in our quiver in hopefully reducing gun violence in the city. We have come to realize the benefit of reaching out to the community and having an open channel to people in the community is beneficial to everyone. That was not a focus of the state’s attorney’s office historically.”
Harold Dimbo, a retired Bridgeport police detective who is now project manager for Project Longevity, said a lot of the work they do would not be possible without Smriga’s support.
“He cares about this community. He’s the only state’s attorney who will show up at a community meeting in the East Side and East End and take the time to listen to people and that’s very important,” Dimbo said.
In addition to having a very experienced staff, Smriga said he has been fortunate to have a defense bar that is skilled and reasonable.
“Ironically, a defense bar with a high level of expertise actually makes the performance of a prosecutor’s job easier,” he said.
Public Defender Joseph Bruckmann has been an opponent of Smriga’s in the courtroom for about 30 years.
“In addition to being a brilliant trial lawyer, he is a thoughtful, practical, fair and compassionate man who earned the respect and admiration of all parties in each case,” said Bruckmann. “John has consistently demonstrated concern for victims and their families while ever mindful of the humanity of indigent defendants whose bad behaviors were often influenced by less-than-ideal upbringings. All of us in the courthouse will certainly miss him. “
Smriga signed Attorney Edward Gavin’s application for the Connecticut Bar 30 years ago.
“He was an outstanding state’s attorney. Prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges all respected him,” said Gavin, who as an aside added, “We are all sorry to see him retire because we just got him broken in to properly try cases.”
“Our approach is not how we can put someone in jail, but to consider other options first and only recommend incarceration when there is no other option. And, in fact, an overwhelming majority of our cases are resolved without incarceration.” State’s Attorney John Smriga