Malik Jones' mother will speak out Monday

While the Malik Jones court decision has spurred heated debate throughout the New Haven area and has garnered national attention, the public has been waiting for the formal response of the person most affected by the ruling: Emma Jones, Malik's mother.

That much awaited response will occur "sometime early next week, probably Monday," Jones said. And while she would not elaborate on her response, she has pointed to major flaws in the investigation that led State's Attorney Michael Dearington to declare on Mon., Sept. 19 that the shooting of her son by East Haven officer Robert Flodquist on Mon., Apr. 14 was "reasonable and justified."

Peter Casolino/NH Register Emma Jones said this week that Dearington's investigation into her son's death ignored the testimony of a key witness.

"I'm interested in talking about the evidence and the witnesses. I'm concerned about how the evidence was treated," Jones commented. She alleges that officers at the scene of the shooting "engaged in conduct attempting to cover up a crime."

As evidence of this cover-up, Jones claims that a police van was moved after the shooting occurred. "We have a witness who said that [the East Haven police] moved the van across the street. Any police officer knows not to do that. They twisted [the evidence] into what they wanted it to be."

This witness, according to Jones, was "commanded to go away" by East Haven officers. After his car "was fenced into the crime scene, a New Haven officer arrived at the scene and kept the person there, and told him that if he had left the scene, he would have been committing a crime." Jones wonders why this person was not used as a witness in Dearington's report.

Dearington, however, claims that this witness reported his testimony only to Jones' investigator. "[Jones's investigator] would not turn it over to me after I verbally and in writing requested it," he said. "They're not being forthcoming with the information that they have."

It is inconsistencies like these that have Jones, Connecticut Governor John Rowland, and others asking Chief Court Administrator Aaron Ment to apply for a grand jury investigation into the incident. In the meantime, Jones said that she plans to file a civil complaint against New Haven and East Haven in the upcoming weeks.

According to The New Haven Register, Dearington made an unsuccessful request for a grand jury investigation several months ago before his own investigation even began. Such a request is ordinarily made based on "a reasonable belief that the investigation will lead to a finding of probable cause that a crime has been committed," the Register reported. Dearington's office would neither confirm nor deny the existence of the request.

Jones finds the potential existence of Dearington's request to be mind-boggling. "This case is the highest profile case, most public case, in the history of this state," she commented. "How can a grand jury request all of a sudden become a secret process? I'd like to know why we knew absolutely nothing of this request being made and turned down."

Ment informed the governor's office that he will wait to make a decision on the current grand jury request until a federal investigation of the matter is complete.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been investigating the case since shortly after the shooting occurred last April, according to a statement issued by U.S. Attorney John H. Durham. Durham stated that the FBI's probe will take Dearington's report into account, and will be forwarded to the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice upon completion.

At this point, if the Civil Rights Division find "probable cause that federal civil rights laws were violated, the U.S. Attorney in Connecticut would present [the case] to a grand jury," according to Yale Professor of Law Kate Stith, M.A.H. '90.

In addition, the governor's press secretary Dean Pagani confirms that at the justice department, Attorney General Janet Reno "will personally review the case." The governor asked Reno to "take a look...to make this a high profile case," Pagani said.

Pagani does not consider the governor's request for the grand jury investigation a slight on the investigation already completed with Dearington's report. "The governor has gone out of his way to compliment Mr. Dearington, and is not questioning the conclusions reached. The only thing the governor wants is the public to be confident, so they have confidence in the police."

Related Herald articles from the archives

• Sept. 26: War of words erupts over Jones ruling

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