Arrested Cop’s Case Continued To April

A state judge gave an arrested New Haven police officer and case attorneys another month and a half to review ​“literally thousands of pages of discoverable material” regarding the cop’s alleged pressuring of an undocumented 19-year-old Honduran immigrant to send him nude photographs and have sex with him in exchange for money.

That was the outcome of a brief procedural hearing Monday morning in a third-floor courtroom at the state court building at 121 Elm St.

State Superior Court Judge Philip Scarpellino continued the criminal case involving New Haven Police Officer Christopher Troche until April 13. 

Troche, who has worked for the New Haven Police Department (NHPD) since 2018, faces one misdemeanor count of soliciting a prostitute. He has pleaded not guilty to that charge; his defense attorney, Rosemarie Paine, has told the Independent that her client is innocent.

Scarpellino continued the case on Monday after Supervisory State’s Attorney David Strollo said that the state has turned over ​“voluminous discovery” to Troche and Paine since the last time the case was before the judge on Feb. 2.

Strollo said that there is some ​“missing” information the state still has to provide the defense. He said that the software used to access some of the phone records included amongst the discovery ​“is not the easiest program to work” and has contributed to some delays. And he said the defense counsel will likely need ​“some time” to go through the ​“literally thousands of pages of discoverable material” in the case.

“I’m prepared to give one more lengthy continuance,” Scarpellino said before closing out Monday morning’s hearing.

“After that, we have to get on top of this case and see where this case is going. … Because at this point in time, it is a misdemeanor charge. We need to get moving on that.”

Troche, 31, has been on paid administrative leave since last April. He was arrested in this case in November.

The case itself dates back to January 2021, when — according to an unsealed arrest warrant affidavit — Troche responded to an unrelated call to the police for help by a 19-year-old undocumented immigrant living in Fair Haven. 

That woman told police that Troche promptly contacted her after that initial call for help, got her drunk, had sex with her at his downtown home, and paid her $100 in cash. 

She also told police investigators that Troche was one of five New Haven police officers she had sexual relationships with during her time in Fair Haven, including recently resigned and de-certified former New Haven cop Gary Gamarra.

The misdemeanor charge of soliciting a prostitute, meanwhile, stems from the victim’s and police investigators’ allegations that Troche spent months pressuring this young woman by text message to send him nude photographs and have sex with him again in exchange for money. (The section of the law invoked does not involve dealings with an actual prostitute, but rather the offer of money for sex.)