New Haven Independent

Jury Clears Maio

by allison schwartz | August 11, 2009 3:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)

An almost all-female jury pronounced Officer Anthony Maio not guilty Tuesday of sexually assaulting two college students. Now his quest for vindication turns from the court to the police department.

Eight days after his trial began, the jury of five women and one man deliberated for under an hour before clearing Maio (pictured) of two counts of sexual assault in the fourth degree and two counts of unlawful restraint. The state had charged that while working an extra-duty job at BAR on April 19, 2008, Maio took two underaged Quinnipiac University students upstairs to a bathroom, locked them inside, and fondled them.

“The state didn’t prove the case,” one juror said after the verdict. Another added that the evidence presented “was not concrete.”

Maio, a 13-year veteran of the force, remained in the courtroom hugging his family and friends after the verdict was announced in Courtroom 6B of State Superior Court on Church Street.

He deferred comment to his lawyer, Timothy Pothin.

“This is a vindication,” Pothin said. “I was convinced from the beginning of this case that no crime was committed. I’m grateful that the jury saw through the charade that was the state’s case. In the end, it was a fractured fairy tale.”

Pothin vigorously challenged the credibility of the two alleged victims, young women who testified in the trial. Pothin suggested that they were drunk and making up their story. The two women claimed that Maio had taken them into the bathroom, locked the door, and groped them. Maio testified that he had accidentally discovered the two women in the bathroom, and they came onto him.

Maio made a gamble in this case: He turned down a judge’s offer to grant accelerated rehabilitation in return for retiring as a cop.

Now that he’s been cleared, Maio will seek to be reinstated as a cop, Pothin said Tuesday afternoon.

“There’s no reason he shouldn’t get his job back,” Pothin said.

Police Chief James Lewis said it’s too early to tell.

Under the department’s union contract, it couldn’t conduct an internal investigation of the case to see whether Maio violated administrative rules until the criminal case was completed.

Now that internal review will begin.

“They already pulled it out and started looking at it,” Lewis said. “There may be violations of administrative rules that are different from the criminal.”

Lewis also noted that Maio has a request for a disability pension filed with a doctor’s note stating he needs to retire because “he can’t work.” The department still needs to deal with that request, Lewis said. “He can withdraw that if he has a doctor who suddenly says he is better.”

All About “Burden Of Proof”

Responding to Tuesday’s verdict, prosecutor Gene Calistro said that he wishes Maio “good luck.” He added that he took no pleasure from prosecuting the case. As Calistro stated in court, he has worked on cases with Maio.

Calistro (pictured) said he tried to “treat him like everyone else.” When prosecuting this case, he questioned Maio the same as he would “anyone else with those charges.” He complimented defense attorney Pothin’s handling of the case.

While the victims were not in court to hear the verdict, they said they were “disappointed” with the verdict, Calistro reported.

The jurors discussed the verdict afterwards over beers and wine at Anna Liffey’s on Whitney Avenue. (They declined to be named.) They said they didn’t consider relevant the defense’s portrayal of the alleged victims as party girls. Nor did the fact that the women used fake IDs play a role in their decision.

Rather, they focused on the evidence — or lack of it — of a crime being committed. They noted in particular that the second of the two women to testify, who spoke with Maio at BAR about a summer job dressing up as Wonder Woman at an amusement park, did not provide many “specifics” on the stand.

They declined to say whether or not they believed Maio committed the acts of which he was accused. Rather, as one juror emphasized, they considered him “innocent until proven guilty.” They emphasized Judge William Holden’s words that the state had to meet a burden of proof. Prosecutor Calistro did not prove the charges “beyond a reasonable” doubt, they said.

The two alternate jurors said that even though they were not part of the decision process, they would have reached the same not-guilty verdict.

Previous coverage of this case:

• In Last-Minute Surprise, Maio Takes The Stand
• 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

Share this story

Share |

Comments

Posted by: citizen | August 11, 2009 3:50 PM

WOW

Posted by: imjustsaying | August 11, 2009 4:12 PM

Congrats Officer Maio. Now that he has been found not guilty is he still going to go out on a workmans comp claim? Or has he been miraculously healed? Praise Jesus!
...

Posted by: kamb | August 11, 2009 4:30 PM

He's innocent. The girls story had a tone of holes in it! He can never recop his reputation though.

Posted by: Ellis Copeland | August 11, 2009 6:32 PM

Well, it seems the OJ jury now lives in CT

Posted by: Crown street regular | August 11, 2009 7:05 PM

Nice, I always liked the "atmosphere" at BAR. Nice place!

Posted by: Pitty | August 11, 2009 7:13 PM

Congratulations to a fine officer of the law!

Posted by: Jon Doe | August 11, 2009 7:18 PM

imjustsaying

Yup he is all better now!

Great a cop who can't controll two young woman in a Bar will be back on the streets hiding from real criminals when they give him the stink eye. Just what we need in New Haven.

Posted by: Anon | August 11, 2009 7:57 PM

OJ? Hardly. Anyone who things Maio should have been found guilty represents the unjustness perpetrated constantly in our society. To prove beyond an unreasonable doubt would have taken two girls with consistent stories, evidence promoting their 'moderate drinking' (contested by photos drinking before and after the incident), and a credible case proving Police Office Maio, was, beyond a reasonable doubt guilty. This was not accomplished.

These girls intentions might never be truly understood. Furthering the lackluster of the 'victims' one of the girls has been on vacation in Myrtle Beach since her testimony through the verdict reading. I hope she enjoyed the beach while an innocent man waited to find out if his life would be in shambles. Unfortunately, the damage might have already been done.

Posted by: kamb | August 11, 2009 9:45 PM

Hey Copeland,
Why is that? The girls said they were not drinkers, BUT they wanted to go upstairs to get free drinks with Maio?

The girls said they were freaked out by Maio??? Why were they talking to him outside for hours, kissing him, and signing I LOve you notes to him?

No one knows exactly what happened but certain things stick out that seem odd.

Posted by: 766122298333 | August 11, 2009 9:56 PM

Now that the Stockholm Syndrome is a legal precedent, I finally feel free to pursue my desires as I wish!

Posted by: Gene Debs | August 12, 2009 12:11 AM

Gee Ellis, I'm glad you kept an open mind. It would be a real injustice if the department punished this officer after all he has been through. Maybe they should look at that internal affairs group to see why they keep trying to lock up cops.

Posted by: robn | August 12, 2009 8:53 AM

Whatever happened, It doesn't seem like good police department policy to let officers get into situations like this...where they are locked in a small enclosed space with drunk women. This shows poor judgement on the part of the officer.

Posted by: THREEFIFTHS | August 12, 2009 9:17 AM

This is why you got to be careful. Can happen to
anyone. Check this out.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/08/12/2009-08-12_pitino_paid_3g_for_abortion_report_exknicks_coach_cops_to_sex_with_his_accused_b.html

Posted by: Bruce | August 12, 2009 10:26 AM

I think a lot of the issues that people keep raising (if the girls drank a lot, if they dressed "hot", were out to meet men, etc) were completely irrelevant to the case and only served as mean-spirited personal attacks.

Sounds like there really was no evidence at all -- I am beginning to wonder how this case even got to trial.

Posted by: NewHavenResident | August 12, 2009 12:47 PM

YES, YES, YES! HE IS A GOOD COP. THAT STORY DID SOUNDED A BIT CRAZY. HOW CAN A COP FORCE TWO GIRLS, PLEASE. NEXT TIME THEY BETTER GET A BETTER STORY.
AND FOR MAIO, STAY AWAY FROM THOSE FREAKY COLLEGE STUDENTS.

Posted by: Ellis Copeland | August 12, 2009 10:56 PM

Bruce-- that's the question you must keep asking. How did this case get to trial. ASA's do NOT make a habit of going after cops. They sweep everything under the rug. Which means that the State's Attorney's office had no choice but to proceed with what was probably a very strong case that then got tanked. QU should warn it's students not to come to Crown St lest they find a pervert there.

Posted by: Mister Jones | August 13, 2009 11:47 AM

Ellis I think you are way off base here by suggesting the prosecutor tanked a strong case. I watched him go after Maio on cross-examination. He pulled no punches. This just looks like one of those weak cases that had to be tried. High profile case, scandalous allegations, no common ground between the stories, plea negotiations failed...if Maio was a private citizen it is not likely the case would have gone that far at all. Seems to me that the only way to deal with charges like this against a cop is to air them out in the light of day, with everyone getting their day in court.

Jury Clears Maio

Comments

Sections

Neighborhood News

Special Sections

Legal Notices

Some Favorite Sites

Government/ Community Links

Flyerboard

Sponsors

N.H.I. Site Design & Development

NHI Store

News Feed