The trial for Shelton police officer Loren Casertano won’t happen until at least February.
Casertano, who is accused of trying to extort money from a school-mate of his teenage daughter, appeared in Superior Court in Derby Friday morning, where his case was continued until Jan. 27.
Judge Burton Kaplan said the January court date would likely only be for scheduling purposes because the list of cases waiting to go to a jury trial is so long.
“We give preference to people with multiple files and those in jail,” Kaplan said during Casertano’s brief appearance Friday.
Casertano was arrested in July 2008 for fifth-degree larceny.
The arrest stems from an incident in March 2008, when Casertano’s daughter had her iPod stolen from Shelton Intermediate School.
When Shelton police determined who stole the iPod, they arrested the juvenile and asked her to pay restitution to the Casertano family, according to the arrest warrant.
But Casertano allegedly lied about how much the iPod was worth and received a payment for double what his family paid for it, the arrest warrant claims.
Casertano has pleaded not guilty and has asked for a jury trial to fight the charges.
But he’s on a list of several other people seeking the same thing.
Kaplan said there are about 12 or 13 cases on the trial list before Casertano’s, and said by January it will still be a while before any trial date is set.
“I don’t expect the list is going to close up that much by that time,” Kaplan said.
Lawsuit
In the mean time, Casertano has filed a law suit against the city and the chief of police in Shelton, claiming the larceny arrest was retribution for Casertano speaking out about alleged corruption in the department.
According to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in New Haven this week, Casertano found out about an alleged fake accident report in 2008, and told other law enforcement agents, including the FBI, about what he heard.
Casertano has also named the assistant state’s attorney in the suit, claiming John Kerwin conspired with Shelton Police Chief Joel Hurliman to get Casertano to resign from the Shelton Police Department.
