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Hearing On Perez Case Canceled

By Jeffrey B. Cohen

July 14, 2009

A hearing Wednesday on whether to allow The Courant to intervene in the state's investigatory grand jury linked to Mayor Eddie A. Perez has been postponed.

On Monday, Judge Henry S. Cohn set a 2 p.m. hearing on Wednesday for The Courant to argue that it should be allowed to intervene in the case and eventually argue that the grand jury's final report should be unsealed.

But late Tuesday, William Fish, the newspaper's attorney, got word from Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane and a court clerk that the hearing had been postponed. Additionally, The Courant's motion to intervene has been referred to the three-judge panel that oversees the state's investigatory grand jury process, Fish said.

Perez was arrested in January and pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery, fabricating evidence and conspiracy to fabricate evidence relating to allegedly discounted work done on his home by a city contractor. His arrest, and the arrest of two others, was the product of the grand jury - which lasted 18 months and ended about two months ago.

The question now before Superior Court Judge Dennis Eveleigh - the lone grand juror in the case - is whether his report should be made public seven days after he filed it, as mandated by state law. Eveleigh heard arguments on this issue Monday, and continued the hearing until July 20.