City sues FOI panel to block release of murder witness statements
BRIDGEPORT — The city’s Police Department is appealing an order by the state Freedom of Information Commission that it turn over witness statements to a convicted killer.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Superior Court, a lawyer for the Police Department argued that the release of the information to Marlando “Massup” Daley could subject witnesses to potential harm.
“The city is appealing a decision of the FOI Commission that orders the city to disclose the identities of witnesses who cooperate with law enforcement,” said Associate City Attorney Dina Scalo. “The Freedom of Information Act itself provides
protection for witnesses — in this instance, the city believes those witnesses could in fact be subject to harm, harassment, or intimidation if their identities were made known. Review of this decision by the court is in the best interest of the public, and will ensure witnesses have the confidence to come forward.”
In 2011, Daley, a local party promoter, was convicted by a jury of murder for the July 4, 2010 shooting death of 40year-old Roland McLennon.
McLennon was found lying in a pool of blood on Edna Avenue near East Main Street. He had been shot once in the head. However, the case remained unsolved until April 2011 when police officers convinced a witness to come forward.
Daley was sentenced to 40 years in prison. He is currently incarcerated at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center with a maximum release date of May 1, 2051.
Fairfield lawyer Dante Gallucci represents Daley in a habeas corpus case in which they are civilly challenging his criminal conviction. He said Daley is not seeking the information from the city as part of some revenge plot against the witnesses who testified against him.
“There is a witness who has emerged since the criminal trial who has given information that is inconsistent with the state’s case against Mr. Daley. Mr. Daley is seeking additional information on that witness for his habeas corpus case,” Gallucci said.
In August 2019, the Bridgeport city attorney received an FOI request from Daley seeking to obtain the Police Department’s file in his case. The city attorney later complied, but Daley complained to the
FOI commission that the information he had received was heavily redacted.
During a hearing before the commission in January 2020, Bridgeport Police Detective Joette Devan testified that if redacted identifiers of witnesses were released to the public, those witnesses would likely be subject to threat or intimidation.
On Nov. 18, 2020, the commission ruled that the Police Department had violated the state Freedom of Information Act and ordered the disclosure of the full records to Daley.
“The respondents failed to prove that the identity of the witnesses whose names and other information they redacted are not otherwise known, and further failed to prove that the safety of these specific witnesses would be endangered or that they would be subject to threat or intimidation if their identities were disclosed,” the panel stated.
This is the second time in two years the city has taken on the FOI commission in court.
Earlier this year the city won a partial victory when a judge agreed to overturn a commission ruling that the city release an explicit video in the case of a college student convicted of falsely claiming she was raped by two football players.