Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

The Spadoni case has been making its way through the judicial grinder for more than four years. The lede to an early 2004 New York Times story reads: HARTFORD, April 12 - A lawyer convicted last summer of giving a $2 million bribe to Paul J. Silvester, former state treasurer, in exchange for a contract for his company to manage Connecticut's pension fund is seeking a new trial, claiming that the government misled his defense team and the jury.” Silvester is, of course, the canary whose chirping brought down the Rowland administration. In 2004, Spadoni’s defense attorneys were claiming, according to the Times’report , that prosecutors had mislead the jury when they said Silvester, the star witness in the bribery case against Spadoni, had admitted his role in bribing Spadoni and was being punished for it. On the contrary, Spadoni’s attorneys claimed, “Mr. Silvester never pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe in the case involving Triumph Capital Group, a Boston investment firm for whic...