STORY: "Prosecutor Won't Answer Questions About Lawyer Death Probe," by reporter Dave Collins, published by Associated Press on September 2, 2017.
GIST: "A Connecticut
prosecutor is citing executive privilege in declining to answer
questions about how he concluded there was no evidence of a 2014
homicide in the case of a lawyer who was found fatally shot in the head
in a wrecked sport utility vehicle. Danbury State's Attorney Stephen Sedensky III invoked the
privilege during a deposition in July in a lawsuit against Redding
police officials over their handling of the investigation into the death
of Gugsa Abraham "Abe" Dabela. Police deny allegations in the lawsuit by Dabela's father
that they rushed to a judgment saying Dabela killed himself. The
lawsuit also says police failed to adequately investigate Dabela's death
because he was black. Redding is a mostly white town. Dabela's
relatives believe he was murdered. The state attorney general's office, which is
representing Sedensky, is now asking the federal judge handling the
lawsuit to sustain Sedensky's objections to answering some questions
because of executive and other privileges, and to seal the transcript
and video of his deposition from public view. Sedensky is not a
defendant in the lawsuit. Sedensky is invoking "deliberative process privilege,"
also known as executive privilege, as well as attorney work product
privilege and "mental process privilege," according to court documents
filed by Assistant Attorney General Stephen Sarnoski. The idea is that
how prosecutors and other government officials arrive at conclusions is
not public information.
"The deliberative process privilege ... has been
recognized by the Supreme Court as necessary to protect the integrity of
the administrative process," Sarnoski wrote, referring to the nation's
highest court.........Keith Altman, a lawyer for Dabela's father, said Sedensky should explain how he concluded there was no evidence of a homicide. "I don't know how your guy can make a statement in public
and then be immune from answering questions about it," Altman said.
"It's not deliberative process to ask him to please tell me the evidence
you considered when making your decision. I think the prosecutor looks
absurd hiding behind all these things.".........Dabela, 35, crashed his Mercedes SUV near his home in
Redding shortly after 1:30 a.m. on April 5, 2014, and died of what
appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head, Redding
police said. Dabela's blood-alcohol level was nearly 2.5 times the legal
limit, police said. The medical examiner's office ruled his death a
suicide. Dabela's family says many questions remain unanswered,
including why Dabela's DNA was not found on the gun's trigger or the
bullet that killed him, why there was a footprint on his back and why
the body wasn't tested for gunshot residue. Police have said the gun found in Dabela's vehicle was
his, one bullet was missing from the ammunition magazine and a bullet
found on the ground at the scene matched characteristics of a bullet
later test fired from Dabela's gun."
The entire story can be found at:
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/connecticut/articles/2017-09-02/prosecutor-wont-answer-questions-about-lawyer-death-probe
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/c
