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Perez Files His Appeal

Hartford's Former Mayor Was Sentenced Last Month To Three Years In Prison

By Jeff Cohen

October 04, 2010

Attorneys for former Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez have appealed his recent conviction. WNPR’s Jeff Cohen reports.

Perez was found guilty on charges that he traded his influence at city hall for deeply discounted renovations on his home, and on charges that tried to extort $100,000 from a city developer.

But Judge Julia Dewey’s decision to combine those two offenses into one trial has been a point of contention for Perez and his attorneys from the beginning. That decision forms a large part of the appeal that was filed last Friday.

The appeal also raises the question of whether the jury should have known that some of the state’s witnesses in the case – such as Carlos Costa, the contractor who worked on Perez’s home – hoped to receive favorable treatment by the state in return for their testimony.

Other questions raised in the appeal include whether Judge Dewey improperly restricted the cross examination of Costa by Perez’s attorneys.

Perez was sentenced to three years in prison last month.