Thomas Breen Photo
Activists rally at site of last week’s shooting.
Markeshia Ricks Photo
New Haven State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin.
As investigators obtained a search warrant for the car shot up by two cops last week, New Haven Mayor Toni Harp expressed her faith in State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin’s ability to oversee the investigation.
Those were some of the latest developments in a case that has consumed New Haven and Hamden for the last week: An early-morning incident in Newhallville in which a Hamden cop and Yale cop sprayed a car with bullets, sending an unarmed woman to the hospital injuries to her torso and face. (Read more about the shooting and its aftermath here and here.)
New Haven State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin released a statement Monday afternoon reporting that his team has obtained a search warrant for the Honda inside which Stephanie Washington and Paul Witherspoon were trapped at Dixwell Avenue and Argyle Street as the officers shot at least 16 bullets at them.
Griffin, whose office oversees the investigation, also announced that has has OK’d the release of officer body-camera footage later this week. The Hamden police officer was said to have had his camera on for the full event; the Yale officer did not have it on for the event.
On Friday New Haven mayoral candidate Justin Elicker argued in this Independent opinion piece that the case should be transferred to a state’s attorney from outside the district. He argued that Griffin is compromised because he works daily with Hamden and Yale cops on cops.
“This is a conflict of interest that will further erode the public’s trust in law enforcement and government,” Elicker wrote.
Mayor Harp disagreed, when asked about the suggestion during her latest appearance on WNHH FM’s “Mayor Monday” program.
There is precedence for officer-involved shooting cases to be transferred to a state’s attorney from another district, including the investigation of Bridgeport police shooting of Jayson Negron, which was transferred to Waterbury’s state’s attorney. But that is not the norm.
“As far as I’m concerned, I think we’ve got to do what is normally done. Because if we veer from that, there are going to be folks who are going to say it has been unfair on both sides,” Harp argued. “I have no reason to believe that the relationship is going to color Mr. Griffin’s point of view.
“What if we ended up having the state’s attorney from Waterbury? I’d be very concerned about that. They don’t know us there.”
Previous coverage of this case:
• Hamden Cop Shoots Woman In Newhallville
• Protesters Storm PD Seeking Answers In Officer-Involved Shooting; Officials Mum
• Cop Who Shot Was Trained In New Haven
• Shot-At Man Plans To File Suit; Clerk Describes Original Complaint
• Outrage Over Shooting Shuts Down Streets
• Elicker: Remove Griffin From Shooting Probe
• Post-Shooting, Focus On Suburban Cops
Click on the Facebook Live video below to watch the full episode of WNHH FM’s “Mayor Monday” program.
WNHH’s “Mayor Monday” is made possible with the support of Gateway Community College and Berchem Moses P.C.
Mayor Harp: "What if we ended up having the state's attorney from Waterbury? I'd be very concerned about that. They don't know us there."
Isn't this the point of an independent investigator? If they "don't know us..." (and it's not clear exactly who the "us" is here), it's is less probable that "they" will be favorable to one side or the other.