Ya just never know what former State Senator Ernie Newton, the Moses of his peeps, will say. From David Owens, Hartford Courant:
Former state Sen. Ernie Newton was late for his Hartford court appearance on Tuesday, and after a prosecutor Kevin Shay was unable to reach Newton’s lawyer, Darnell Crosland, Judge Joan K. Alexander revoked Newton’s promise to appear in court, ordered his rearrest, and set bail at $250,000.
About 10 minutes later, the dapperly dressed Newton strolled through the courtroom door.
Court staff then set about trying to get Shay back to the courthouse.
When Alexander called Newton’s case a short time later, she quizzed Crosland about his and Newton’s tardiness.
It was the traffic caused by the Metro-North derailment, Crosland responded. It took longer to reach court than normal, he said.
Alexander accepted the explanation.
Newton, a Democrat, has a motion to dismiss the eight felony counts against him: two counts of first-degree larceny, one count of tampering with a witness, and five counts of violating campaign finance regulations. The charges are related to his campaign last summer for state senate in Bridgeport.
Attorneys briefly discussed those motions, the judge took no further action, and a new court date was set for July 2.
Outside court, Newton said traffic was terrible. He said Crosland drives from Norwalk to Bridgeport and then both men ride together to Hartford for Newton’s court appearances. For past court appearances, Newton has typically arrived for court at least 45 minutes early. Newton was surprised to hear the judge had ordered his rearrest and set a high bail. The traffic, he explained, was brutal.
He then offered a comment on the federal corruption trial of the campaign finance director for former Speaker of the House Christopher Donovan’s congressional campaign. Seven people have pleaded guilty in the case so far, although Donovan, a Democrat, has not been charged and says he did nothing wrong.
“Those guys make me look like a choir boy,” Newton said.
Amazing candidness from Ernie …
*** It is a bit surprising the judge (Alexander) in this case having seen and dealt with Newton and lawyer before in past case continuances, did not ask many (what’s the story Jerry) questions nor hesitated in revoking Newton’s promise to appear, ordered a rearrest and imposed a set $250,000 bail! Looks like Newton and his lawyer will not get any type of judicial breaks in this “hang them high” type of courtroom! *** TO BE CONTINUED! ***
Are you suggesting the judge imposed too severe a penalty when Newton failed to appear for more than an hour after his scheduled time? I wonder if this judge ever imposed a similar penalty on anyone else who failed to appear or was an hour late. Granted, traffic could have been troublesome. Generally, northbound traffic is less congested. But Newton must have run into a traffic anomaly. So, if Newton is convicted it will be because the judge is bad and it has nothing to do with Newton actually being guilty. Just a thought.
Funny you mention that–what minimal traffic congestion there was, was heading southbound, and even that had dwindled down substantially by that time. Perhaps he just took too much time deciding what outfit he should wear to dress to impress.
*** Funny you should ask, the same type of “no-show” incident was in fact handled by this judge later in the day however a “make a phone call counselor and get back to me concerning your client’s whereabouts” was rendered first before any revokes, rearrests or set bail orders. Maybe this client was traveling from a different direction to court, no? *** MARKED MAN WALKING? ***
I wonder. Is cell phone connectivity directly related to traffic congestion? Otherwise Newton could have called the court to explain his traffic dilemma. Maybe he and his lawyer didn’t think to call.
Not to worry, Ernie–you’ll never be categorized as a choirboy.