Amid an ongoing battle swirling over their appointments, nine nominees for judgeships were slated to appear Friday in front of the legislature’s influential judiciary committee.
The two most high-profile nominees were the state’s public safety commissioner, John A. Danaher III of West Hartford, and the state budget director, Robert Genuario of Norwalk.
A former federal prosecutor and former middle-school teacher, Danaher served in the U.S. Attorney’s office for two decades before taking his current job to oversee the state police.
“Achieving justice did not always mean seeking an indictment, a conviction, or the maximum possible sentence,” Danaher said of his days in the U.S. Attorney’s office. “A federal prosecutor has the luxury of not bringing cases” if there is not enough evidence to bring an indictment.
The process of selecting judges has traditionally been secret, and the workings of the Judicial Selection Commission are kept under wraps. Prompted by questioning Friday, Danaher said he applied to be a judge in May 2006 and then appeared in January 2007 in front of the Judicial Selection Commission. On March 5, 2007, he was named public safety commissioner by Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell.
“I did not receive any forms from the governor’s office,” Danaher said when asked if he had been given any background forms to fill out as part of a vetting process. “I didn’t get a package like that.”
When asked by committee co-chairman Michael P. Lawlor about racial issues, Danaher said he found that the group that is the least likely to get a citation after a motor vehicle stop is white women. On the flip side, the group that is most likely to get a citation is Asian males, he said.
Some troopers, Danaher said, issue a citation every time that they pull a car over. Others write citations on a much less frequent basis. A report will be issued on the stops, probably by the end of the year.
Lawlor brought up the high-profile case of Ken Krayeske, a UConn Law School student who was arrested during Rell’s inaugural parade in early 2007. Lawlor said that Krayeske was arrested for exercising his political rights.
“That was a very troubling moment for our state,” Lawlor said.
“That event occurred before I became commissioner. I had no role in that,” said Danaher, who started his job in March 2007.
“Maybe it was Commissioner Boyle. All you guys look alike to me,” Lawlor said. “That might have been Commissioner Boyle. I thought it was you.”
Danaher was congratulated by committee members on both sides of the political aisle. He is expected to gain support from both Republicans and Democrats when the committee votes Monday on all nine of Rell’s nominees.
“I think you have an exquisite demeanor to be a judge,” said Sen. John Kissel of Enfield. “Sometimes people have a very high opinion of themselves. I’ve never seen that with you.”
Regarding his success rate as a prosecutor over two decades, Danaher said that 90 percent of the cases in the federal system are plea-bargained. He mentioned two cases which resulted in acquittals, and “my very last trial was a bench trial, and the defendant was acquitted.”
When asked for his views on the death penalty, he said he handled 13 death-penalty review cases when he worked in the U.S. Attorney’s office.
“It was the law, is the law,” Danaher said. “If I was required to follow the law, I would follow it.
In a gigantic agency as large as the department of public safety with about 1,600 employees, Danaher said he could not satisfy every request. When he recently promoted a colleague to major, there were 29 candidates for one opening. As such, 28 people were disappointed.
“I have done my best to hear people who have problems and concerns,” Danaher said. “I have to make decisions that disappoint people.”
In the upcoming training class for new troopers, 15 of the 75 new trainees are women. In a class that includes African Americans and Latinos, Danaher said the state police are more diverse than they once was.
But one lawmaker said his record as a judge will be under scrutiny.
“If you are approved, I”m going to keep my eyes on you,” said state Rep. Minnie Gonzalez, a Hartford Democrat.
His questioning by state Sen. Michael McLachlan of Danbury went in a completely different direction. McLachlan thanked Danaher for restoring the chaplains at the state police.
“I’m not sure why it ever went away, but I’m glad it’s back,” McLachlan said.
Another key nominee, state budget director Robert Genuario, began his testimony at about 7:45 p.m. Friday. A 1977 graduate of Villanova law school, he received an award for the highest grade in criminal law. A former law clerk in Fairfield County, Genuario spent most of his time in the Bridgeport court house – writing draft decisions and helping judges. He worked directly for T. Clark Hull, who later became lieutenant governor, and Robert Callahan, who later became the chief justice of the State Supreme Court.
A former chairman of the Norwalk school board for three years, he served for 10 years on the board overall. He also served for 14 years in the state Senate, saying that he served the most diverse district in the entire state with millionaires in Darien and poor people in South Norwalk.
After developing an expertise in land-use, Genuario represented developers and neighborhood associations through the years.
“I would consider myself to be a general practitioner,” said Genuario, adding that he would not call himself a trial lawyer despite having done some jury trials.
Genuario said he was not involved in the latest deal to resolve the state’s budget problems and keep all state courthouses and law libraries open – despite the state’s biggest fiscal woes in decades.
“I did not negotiate that,” Genuario said. “I did not participate it in any meaningful way.”
Lawlor noted that the role of the judiciary committee is to “ferret out those who are qualified on paper and don’t have the temperment” to wear the robes. He said, however, that there is no doubt that Genuario has the temperment to sit on the bench.
Kissel noted that he sat next to Genuario for 12 years in the Republican Senate caucus room.
“I don’t recall any time that you raised your voice,” Kissel said, noting that Genuario did not take fiercely partisan positions as either a state senator or a state budget director.
Sen. Edward Meyer, a former prosecutor and defense attorney, said he considered himself “a courtroom rat” and said that he considers Genuario in the same way.
Genuario told the committee that he likely would not have filed an application to be a judge if Rell had decided to run again for another term as governor.
State Rep. Minnie Gonzalez of Hartford said that many state programs have been cut, but the judges are still being funded.
“We’re not gonna lay off no judges,” Gonzalez said. “In my opinion, I don’t think it’s fair – ten new judges when we’re closing the courts and libraries.”
Genuario said he was highly aware of the controversy surrounding the judges.
“I am prepared to live with whatever decision the General Assembly makes,” Genuario said.