New Haven’s top public defender is demanding an investigation into leaks about the Annie Le murder — but he promised he doesn’t want journalists subpoenaed.
New Haven’s Chief Public Defender Tom Ullmann (pictured) issued his call this weekend to have the State’s Attorney’s Office conduct a probe into how details became public about the investigation leading to the arrest last week of 24 year-old Raymond Clark on charges of having strangled Annie Le to death. The remains of Le, a 24 year-old Yale graduate student, were found in a basement wall last week.
Ullmann has assigned two attorneys from his office to represent Clark.
A judge ordered the arrest warrant sealed in the case. But details of how cops put together the case leaked out, most notably in the Hartford Courant.
Even before the arrest, Clark’s identity became public.
Ullmann sent a letter to New Haven State’s Attorney Michael Dearington demanding a probe into the leaks. The published reports “potentially compromise” the trial by tainting the juror pool, Ullmann argued. He argued that pre-arrest identification of Clark also jeopardized his safety by leading hordes of reporters and angry citizens to surround Clark’s home, in Ullmann’s view.
Releasing information from the arrest warrant “violates a court order,” Ullmann added.
He was asked about a potential First Amendment concern: Does he want the state hounding reporters — subpoenaing notes or testimony, say?
Not at all, Ulmann insisted in a conversation Monday morning.
“I’m not blaming the press at all. The press does its job,” he said. He doesn’t want to “break sources” for reporters.
But he does want Dearington’s office to enlist an outside investigator to review police officers’ cellphone records and land line records to see who was talking to reporters.
Dearington could not be reached for comment Monday morning; he told the Register he shares Ullmann’s concern about leaks but considers a probe “easier said than done.”
New Haven Police Chief James Lewis was skeptical about a leak hunt.
For starters, said Lewis (pictured at a press conference announcing Clark’s arrest), some of the information printed about the case wasn’t true; reporters were just speculating.
Other information could have come from multiple places other than the New Haven police department, Lewis noted. As soon as the cops started interviewing citizens about the case, those citizens could very well have spread the word among their friends and relatives. (Indeed, talk about Clark emerged on Facebook when he was arrested.)
New Haven police have no internal investigation planned into the leak of information, Lewis said.
“I don’t plan to spend a lot of time on” this question, Lewis said. He said he imagines a reporter could theoretically come forward to divulge where information came from, but he’s not counting on it. And “I don’t believe I have a legal right” to compel the information.
Norm Pattis disagreed. He said Monday he’d like to see journalists subpoenaed to discover which cops are “using” reporters and hiding.
Pattis, a prominent local defense attorney and legal columnist and blogger, called the New Haven police department a “sieve” through which cops allegedly “ran their mouths” to portray a guilty portrait of Raymond Clark.
“The Fourth Estate is not a fourth branch of government,” Pattis said of the media. “Often reporters are used by sources in an illegitimate game of hide and go seek. They will leak something without their fingerprints on it to create an effect or cause harm.
“Reporters have a duty and an obligation to report the truth. When they are used by people with political agendas, those with political agendas should not be able to use it to hide.”
If Hugh Keefe, Why Not P.D.s?
Ullmann’s public defenders began representing Clark before his arrest. Usually defendants get a public defender after their arrests.
Indigent defendants deserve legal advice the same that wealthier clients do, Ullmann said. “If you have money and you can hire Hugh Keefe or Willie Dow, they’re going to give advice before arrests. Why shouldn’t we?”
His office has given pre-arrest advice “a bunch of times” over the years, Ullmann said. “In some cases, it’s avoided somebody getting arrested” unfairly. Ullmann said this is the first time it has happened this year.
Previous coverage of the Annie Le case:
Monday, Sept. 21
• What Annie Le Story?
Thursday, Sept. 17
• After Annie Le Murder, Union Chief Sends Rallying Call
• Annie Le Suspect Knew Cops Were On His Tail
• Cops Arrest Lab Tech In Annie Le Murder
• Suspect Arraigned (live blog)
Wednesday, Sept. 16:
• Ex-Girlfriend “Shocked” About Annie Le Target
• Cops Stake Out Annie Le Target’s Motel
• Annie Le Case: It’s Coming Down To The DNA
• Annie Le Was Strangled
Tuesday, Sept. 15:
• City, Yale Learned From Jovin In Annie Le Case
• Suspect In Annie Le Case Has Fiancee
• NBC Producer Trampled At Annie Le “Briefing”
• Cops Take DNA From Annie Le Target
• Was That Annie Le’s Killer?
Monday, Sept. 14:
• Body Identified As Annie Le
• “Serious” Suspect In Annie Le Case
• You Can Get In The Wall With A “Butter Knife”
• Lab Building Shuts Down
Sunday, Sept. 13:
• Remains Of Annie Le Believed Found; “A Time For Compassion,” Levin Says
• Annie Le Hunt Extends To Hartford
Saturday, Sept. 12
• Focus In Annie Le Probe Less On “State Lines”
Friday, Sept. 11
• City Cops Join Search For Annie Le; $10,000 Reward Posted