New Haven Independent

In Last-Minute Surprise, Maio Takes The Stand

by allison schwartz | August 7, 2009 3:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)

City cop Anthony Maio just happened across two underaged college students in an upstairs bathroom at a downtown nightclub. And he didn’t grope them — he sought their “cooperation” and felt “vulnerable” at having his “personal space” “invaded” by two young women hitting on him.

That, it turns out, is Maio’s version of the fateful events of April 19, 2008. At least the version he offered on the stand Friday.

In a surprise move, Officer Maio (pictured in file photo) decided to take the stand on the final day of testimony in his trial in Connecticut Superior Court on Church Street on sexual assault charges.

Maio is accused of two counts of unlawful restraint and two counts of fourth-degree sexual assault. While working an extra-duty job at BAR that April evening last year, he allegedly took two Quinnipiac University students upstairs to a bathroom, locked them inside, and fondled them.

That’s the state’s version. That’s the version the two students told on the stand.

When Maio testified Friday morning, the story sounded a whole lot different.

Maio stepped up to the stand wearing a black suit and checkered tie. His attorney, Timothy Potin, asked how long he had worked at BAR as an extra duty police officer. Maio said it had been for over nine years.

“Let’s get right to the point,” Pothin said as he turned to the events that night at BAR.

Maio stated that he arrived at 11 p.m. for his extra-duty job. He saw the two women as BAR began to close.

“Did you know them?” Pothin questioned.

“Not at all,” Maio responded. He said he had never saw them before.

Maio told the courtroom that the women approached him and touched him. “On my chest,” he said.

The first woman to approach him was the taller of the two. Then the shorter one came over to him, touching him on his “right shoulder,” he said.

“They simultaneously kissed me on the cheeks,” Maio stated.

Did you hug them, Pothin asked? “No, I did not,” Maio said firmly. They hugged him, he claimed.

Maio described the conversation between him and the women. He said one mentioned she was a criminal justice major and the taller one discussed her summer job. The taller woman told Maio she worked as Wonder Woman at Six Flags amusement park.

Pothin stopped him, asking if Maio remembered the woman showing him a photograph of her in costume.

Maio said he could not remember. He was “trying to pay attention” to the crowd at BAR.

Returning to the hug, Pothin asked Maio what his reaction was. “I was surprised,” Maio answered. “They were in my personal space,” he said, and he “attempted to push them away.” Maio further said he had never asked to see the taller woman in her Wonder Woman outfit, as has been alleged.

After the brief conversation with the two women, Maio said he walked upstairs “to perform a brief security check.” He went alone “right into the office,” where he talked to Frank Patrick, who is the general manager of BAR, Maio said.

Patrick was separating the cash from the evening into different piles. As the two men conversed in the office, they heard a bottle break outside. Patrick asked Maio to see where the “disturbance” was.

Maio claims that as he headed down the stairs, he “heard some laughing and giggling from the bathroom” upstairs.

The door was slightly open, and he could see the light was on in the bathroom, he testified. “I put my hand on the door.”

When Maio opened the door, one woman stepped towards the sink, and the other moved to the right of the bathroom door, he said. “I was in the doorway.” At the time, he told the women, “Girls you are not supposed to be up here,” he claimed. Then, he said, one girl “immediately” stepped towards him.

Did she seem intoxicated? Pothin interjected.

“She staggered in her balance,” Maio said. After stepping towards him, she “put her hand directly up to my mouth,” Maio claimed.

She was “in my personal space,” he added.

At that point in the encounter he started to step back, “because she was making contact with me,” Maio stated. As the other woman put her hand on his shoulder, he took out his pad and pen and “requested their names.”

Pothin interrupted the narrative, asking the reason for taking down the women’s names.

Maio said he was alone with the two women, which made him uneasy. “Specifically, it was two ladies making an advance towards me,” he stated.

At that moment, how did you feel? Pothin asked.

“Vulnerable,” Maio said, as he made eye contact with the jury. As he spoke, he choked up, wiping his face with a tissue.

The taller woman responded to his request for names. “She proceeded to write a comment,” he said. “And we have all seen it.” He was alluding to the phrase “Officer Maio I heart U,” which the woman wrote in Maio’s notebook.

While Maio retold his story, he touched his face with a tissue again.

“Would you like some water?” Judge William Holden asked.

“I’m all right,” Maio answered.

Finishing the story, Maio claimed that after the woman wrote in his notebook, she gave it back to him, looking at him “momentarily.” Nothing further happened, he stated. They then “brushed by me and left.”

Maio then stated for the record that he did not touch the shorter woman’s breasts, or reach under the taller woman’s skirt. “I pushed away from them,” he maintained, only touching them “to get away.”

Maio continued to look at Pothin, telling his lawyer that he never shut the door. Shortly before the girls exited, he claimed that he mentioned that “they could be arrested for what transpired.”

When Maio returned to the first floor, he saw the two women “moving out the door.”

Pothin had no further questions at that time, and the court took a short recess. Maio stepped off the stand, collecting a pile of tissues as he made his way down.

Armed — & “Vulnerable”?

Maio took the stand once more as prosecutor Gene Calistro (pictured) cross-examined him.

Maio stated for the record that he has worked with Calistro on previous cases.

Calistro asked if Maio had followed the women up the stairs. He did not, he claimed. Maio further confirmed that the girls had approached him while he was downstairs, and they had given him hugs.

Calistro pressed Maio about his claim that he felt “vulnerable.” He asked Maio if at that moment he was “carrying a gun,” “handcuffs,” and “pepper spray.”

Yes, Maio said he was.

Why had Maio not called for assistance? Calistro asked. Maio said the nearest officer was over a block away, and there was heavy radio traffic.

Pothin returned to the moment at which Maio felt “vulnerable.” What did that mean? Pothin asked.

“In that moment, I felt a little helpless,” Maio explained. He further said he felt “violated.”

Calistro asked one more round of questions. He asked what the woman had said when Maio requested their names. “She just said, ‘I’ll give you my name,‘“and “staggered her balance” as she spoke, Maio said.

Calistro concluded by asking him again if he felt violated. “Yes,” Maio said, he had.

Referring to law enforcement officers, Calistro said, “Aren’t we trained to be thick-skinned?”

“Yes,” Maio answered.

After his testimony was completed, people exited the courtroom for the day. Maio hugged his family and friends. Lawyers are expected to make final arguments on Monday.

Previous coverage of this case:

• Cop: Student Was Drunk
• Tears Shed Both On And Off The Stand
• Cop’s Alleged Victim Put On Defensive
• Maio Deal On Hold
• Cop Denies Groping Students
• Cop Arrested On Sexual Assault Charges

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Posted by: Ellis Copeland | August 7, 2009 4:41 PM

Oh, it all makes perfect sense now. NOT!
How stupid does this guy think the jury is? Well, maybe they are, juries have bought dumber stories. What a load. If this case involved random man X and Maio had made an arrest and this was the story of random man X Maio would have laughed in his face.

Posted by: Paul | August 7, 2009 5:34 PM

Dearington's office is a joke; I will never work with this office again.
I wouldn't want to be accused of protecting the "Thin Blue Line"? You're nothing but a bunch of conspiracy theorists and so are your cases! Dearington and his office should be replaced.

Posted by: unprotected | August 7, 2009 8:54 PM

it seems that there IS NOT probable cause to make an arrest, nevermind "beyond a reasonable doubt" to find Maio guilty... Based on the statements by Maio in court, you have to wonder if he made those statements in IA or was it left out of the arrest warrant??? I am just sayin.............

Posted by: Dan | August 8, 2009 4:45 AM

Dear Independent,

Good reporting by Ms. Schwartz: "just the facts mam." Let the jury-and the reader-decide. Officer Maio's testimony does seem a little stretched, though.

Posted by: Truth | August 8, 2009 9:09 AM

" It's girls like this that ruin it for true victims of sexual assault. The girls don't drink "that much" but wanted to get "free drinks in a bathroom" at 1am. They stated they weren't drunk, but (5) other witnesses for the state and the defense testify that they were intoxicated. Then they state that the officer opened the door, turned on the lights, and then locked the door. Well then there must be fingerprints on the door handles, the lock and the light switch. Where are the fingerprints? How about the rape kit? How about the (DVR)? Where's the evidence? Why didn't Capt. Petersen obtain this evidence? I mean the girls claimed that they were sexually assaulted and you don't bother to gather evidence?

Then one of the complainants testifies that they only went to the BAR twice and the other complainant testifies that they went there many times... they probably just forgot to rehearse that question but lets move on. They said they obtained an illegal ID from a friend but destroyed it after this incident. Boy, there "friend" must have been very upset after getting the news about that... One question though, how did they get into other New Haven bars after that night in question if they destroyed the illegal ID? The defense has pictures to show these girls were drinking at multiple bars, kissing multiple men and exposing themselves in public, all after the BAR incident. How did they get into these bars if they destroyed the illegal ID? Did they lie to the prosecutor about what they did to the illegal ID? Or did they tell the truth and just go out and obtain another illegal ID? Either way they lied and perjured themselves.

Then the complainant reports that night in question that she sees the officer touch and grope her friend but when she testifies she "can't recall" seeing that? Uhh umm, hello... "

Posted by: Pat | August 8, 2009 9:58 AM

You are all so willing to say the gap filled testimony of these two girls is true. Yet they are willing to go upstairs with a man they testified they were not comfortable with for free drinks even though they don't drink a lot. That sounds skeptical to me. Along with the statement that they went into a dark room yet one stated that he turned on the light first. Come on people this man is innocent of all charges. The girls were scared because he threatened to have them arrested. This world is so unjust that two girls can ruin a mans career and life and don't think twice about it.

Posted by: Jim Blunt | August 8, 2009 10:00 AM

The NH Police Officer is the vulnerable victim? Crying on the stand because he was violated??

We cannot say for sure that he is guilty, but come on... this story is way too dramatic to be believable. Hopefully the jury will discern the truth and justice will prevail.

Posted by: Jack | August 8, 2009 10:07 AM

Two completely different versions of the event.I guess we will have to see who the jury believes. If the cop is exonerated, I hope he sues.

Posted by: Jon Doe | August 9, 2009 2:46 AM

Anthony Maio sought their "cooperation" and felt "vulnerable" at having his "personal space" "invaded" by two young women hitting on him.

This guy will never live this down now, if convicted he'll get hell from his cellmate or if he is allowed to return to work on the force his fellow officers will never let him live this down also.

If he cant handle two young woman on the job maybe he should be reassigned to the dogpond.

To all of you out there saying these girls are in it for the money, after the way they were treated in court I hope they sue him and the city for haven him on the payroll.

Posted by: NH Officers | August 9, 2009 8:37 AM

The Jury only has to look at the girl's testimony. One girl states the bathroom was dark and the other states that the officer turned the lights. No fingerprint evidence, of course.

Then both girls state that the officer kissed one girl and grabbed the other girl's breasts. When questioned by the defense regarding how she saw this if the bathroom was dark, she recanted and stated well "maybe she didn't see that". Well that certainly conflicts with what she reported?

Then the girl's state that they "don't drink much"but testify how anxious they were to go up stairs with an officer to get"free drinks" That makes a lot of sense. When asked if they talked about this case to anyone, including each other they both said "no". Let me get this straight, you report a police officer for sexual assault, and you're so distraught about this life altering event, and you expect us to believe that you don't even talk about the event not even to each other, even though your roommates? Do you think the jury is dumb? Then you obtain an illegal fake ID to commit another crime, underage drinking, and you lie about how you got the ID. Then you lie about what you did with the ID because you were spotted at various New Haven bars after this incident, you continued to drink at New Haven bars, didn't you? That's why the judge couldn't allow the pictures in because it would verify that you perjured yourself on the stand. You didn't throw that ID out, instead you used it again and again or you manufactured another illegal fake ID, didn't you?

I believe you lied to the jury and didn't throw out the illegal fake ID, I believe you kept it because it was a good one from the DMV. Then you used it to coWhy didn't IA obtain the illegal fake ID? Why didn't IA submit the illegally obtained DVD into evidence? Why didn't IA ask the officer what happened that night? Why didn't IA collect fingerprints? Why didn't IA get the names of all the witnesses? Why didn't IA do a lot of things? ...

Posted by: Edward_H | August 9, 2009 1:56 PM

JON DOE
If he cant handle two young woman on the job maybe he should be reassigned to the dogpond

I disagree, if two young girls made him feel vulnerable imagine how he would feel when faced with a snarling Chihuahua with its raging red rocket standing at full attention!

Posted by: Denise | August 9, 2009 3:47 PM

Why was officer Maio able to work for 13 years at this bar without a single complaint? Then all of a sudden two drunk girls, out for a pay day, make a bogus allegation. I think the girls did it because they were threatened with arrest,then they realized how much money they can make off of the City of New Haven.

Posted by: Common Sense | August 9, 2009 4:08 PM

Maio is a cop who was on extra duty as security. He should have been in the bar, not upstairs with two young women. Whatever happened is anyones guess. The fact is he should not have been their and was not doing his job as a security guard. If he cant do that job right why is he still a cop.

NH Officers. Why didnt this get done and why didnt that get done. NHPD is full of people like Maio who are not up to the job.

Posted by: Jon Doe | August 9, 2009 4:19 PM

Edward_H

Your right about that. I guess NHPD doesn't have a job he would be comfortable with doing. They always could keep him on payed leave till he would be able to retire or collect his workmans comp that he now has a claim on.

Posted by: STYLENE | August 9, 2009 6:52 PM

I must say I'm having a tough time with Maio's version. You would think HE was the victim. At the same time I don't want to see a good cop (IF, IN FACT HE IS A GOOD COP) loose his career over what might be bull... pardon my french

Posted by: Jon Doe | August 9, 2009 7:33 PM

To Denise

you say how much money they can make off of the City of New Haven.

The two young woman haven't yet file a suit against the city or Maio. Till they do you are just assuming that.

But the fact to this point say Maio is the one looking for a payday.

First he tryed to work out a deal to retire and Collect his pension, but he didn't have the time on the job or the sick & vacation time to make it to the 15 year point. He wanted to be placed on AR also with this deal.

Second after that feel thru Maio put in a workmans comp claim. That is pending now.

Third he has been paid for the last 15 months on paid leave.

So at this point the only one he looking for a payday is Maio. Next time please get the facts first then comment.

In Last-Minute Surprise, Maio Takes The Stand

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