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Julie Amero remains in legal limbo land
From: "Richard M. Smith" <rms () computerbytesman com>
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2008 09:07:35 -0400
http://www.courant.com/hc-rgreen0708.artjul08,0,1673816.column Let's End Teacher's Long Nightmare Rick Green July 8, 2008 You would have thought when Superior Court Judge Hillary B. Strackbein tossed out the trumped-up conviction of a substitute teacher last year that the state of Connecticut would have decided to leave Julie Amero alone. Wrong. Unbelievably, more than 13 months after Strackbein set aside Amero's conviction on charges that she allowed seventh-graders to view pornography in her classroom, the state is apparently still planning to bring Amero back to trial. Which means that as long as Amero is on the trial list, she must live with this hanging over her head. Why? Perhaps overworked state prosecutors are too busy to file the paperwork to abandon the case. It's more likely that this is all an elaborate face-saving maneuver that must slowly unwind so that nobody will ever look bad. There is no indication that state investigators are taking another look at the now discredited work done by the Norwich <http://www.courant.com/topic/us/connecticut/new-london-county/norwich-PLGEO 100100206170000.topic> Police Department, which concluded that Amero was responsible for the storm of porn pop-up messages that took over her classroom computer on Oct. 19, 2004. The truth is that Amero, nearly a computer illiterate, was a victim of malicious software that had taken over her PC, thanks to the school district's failure to update its technology. A team of computer security experts from around the country, drawn to the case by reports of Amero's conviction, proved without a doubt that Amero was a victim of "spyware" and the inability of anyone to take an objective look at the case. Meanwhile 3½ years after her arrest and a year after her conviction was set aside, Amero's life continues to be the hell that began with her highly public arrest in November of 2004 on charges of risk of injury to a minor. At the time of her arrest, she was pregnant. She lost the baby. Over the last year, I'm told, Amero has been hospitalized for stress and has lost at least one job because her employer didn't like her arrest record. She is on medication. So she waits, declining to speak publicly, for the state to do something. I tried to find out what plans the state has for this poor woman, who was charged, arrested and convicted on false information, shoddy police work and an unwillingness by anyone from Norwich school officials to state prosecutors to admit that they had made a mistake. Michael Regan, state's attorney for the New <http://www.courant.com/topic/us/connecticut/new-london-county/new-london-%2 8new-london-connecticut%29-PLGEO100100206140000.topic> London district, reminded me that there is a backlog of serious criminal cases in southeastern Connecticut. The Amero case "is not a high priority for us. We have other cases down here that are much more important." If so, I asked, why leave this woman hanging? Regan referred me to Thomas Griffin, the prosecutor in Norwich who makes these decisions. Griffin did not return my calls and e-mail. On Monday, I explained to an investigator from his office that I merely wanted to find out the status of Amero's case and what the state planned to do more than a year after Strackbein threw out the conviction. There are no plans to change Amero's status, he told me. I went to the top prosecutor in the state, Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane. "I know that the new trial was granted," said Kane, who was patient, but had few answers to my many questions. "It's a pending case," Kane said. "We can't and shouldn't be commenting on it." In June of 2007, Strackbein threw out the initial conviction and ordered a new trial. Now, even after a year in which Amero's lawyers and supporters have said little in hopes that the state would quietly back off, Amero still faces the same humiliating charges. State prosecutors, faced with a case ruined by what Strackbein called "erroneous" testimony and "false information," should walk away now and seek dismissal of all charges against Amero. Kane, Regan and Griffin don't want to talk about their plans, other than to confirm that Amero is still on the active trial list. Her lawyer, Willie Dow, and supporters across the country don't want to speak, either, fearing this would antagonize prosecutors. This is an embarrassing outrage. It's time to finally free Julie Amero. Rick <http://www.courant.com/topic/politics/rick-green-PEPLT002515.topic> Green's column appears on Tuesdays and Fridays. He can be reached at rgreen () courant com
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