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38 ¦ JULY 27, 2020 CONNECTICUT OPINIONS

CRIMINAL LAW methamphetamine and to one count of car-
rying a firearm in furtherance of a drug traf-
ficking crime. Defendant moved to reduce his
Court Denied Criminal Defendant’s sentence for extraordinary and compelling rea-
Motion For Reconsideration Of sons due to COVID and the court denied his
Temporary Release From Detention motion. Defendant is a 28-year-old African
American male. He argued that his race makes
CASE: United States v. Cabrera him vulnerable to contracting the virus. In his
COURT: U.S. District Court for Connecticut supplemental motion, he stated that there are
DOC. NO.: 3:16-cr-238 multiple cases at his prison and that he has a
COURT OPINION BY: Underhill previous hypertension diagnosis. The court
DATE: July 13, 2020 • PAGES: 18 rejected defendant’s arguments. It noted that
there are no cases in the unit where defendant
Defendant was convicted in March 2018, of kid- is housed, and that the defendant’s medical re-
napping, Hobbs Act extortion, and conspiracy cords mention hypertension just once, and it
to commit those crimes. The court sentenced was not a diagnosis. The court also found that
him to 135 months’ imprisonment. Defendant given the crimes for which he was convicted,
filed a motion for reconsideration after the court defendant poses a danger to the community.
denied his motion for temporary release from Therefore, the court denied defendant’s motion
detention. The court denied his motion for re- for compassionate release.
consideration. His appeal from his conviction is
currently pending. In his motion for temporary
release, defendant requested that due to the pan-
demic, he be released to home incarceration. In DISCOVERY

its initial denial of his motion, the court noted
that although the pandemic is an exceptional Court Addressed Motion To Compel
reason for release, the court was not convinced Testimony In Lawsuit Regarding
that the defendant did not pose a flight risk. Defendants’ Sexual Assault
When denying his motion for reconsideration,
the court noted that the COVID-19 situation at Investigation
the defendant’s prison is under control and im-
proving. The court also reasoned that because CASE: Doe v. Town of Greenwich
of his criminal conduct in this case, it could not COURT: U.S. District Court for Connecticut
find by clear and convincing evidence that he DOC. NO.: 3:18-cv-01322
was not a danger to others. Lastly, the court ad- COURT OPINION BY: Dooley
dressed his pending appeal; it did not find that DATE: July 14, 2020 • PAGES: 14
his appeal raised a substantial question of law
or fact that would likely result in reversal or an Plaintiff, a former student at Greenwich
order for a new trial on all counts of conviction. Academy, alleged she was sexually assaulted
The court did not find that there was a substan- by Peter Roe, a former student at Brunswick
tial question of law or fact raised as to any of School. She reported the assault to Greenwich
his convictions. Therefore, the court denied de- Police Department and the defendants inves-
fendant’s motion for reconsideration. tigated her complaint. Defendants presented
the State’s Attorney with an arrest warrant, but
the State’s Attorney did not sign the warrant.
Plaintiff sued defendants, alleging that their in-
Court Denied Defendant’s Motion vestigation was a sham that resulted from their
For Compassionate Release Due To policy of colluding with Brunswick School
COVID-19 to protect the school’s reputation. Plaintiff
moved to compel answers to certain questions
posed to Peter Roe during his deposition. The
CASE: United States v. Leigh-James court granted the motion in part. The court first
COURT: U.S. District Court for Connecticut held that Roe did not waive his attorney cli-
DOC. NO.: 3:15-cr-188
COURT OPINION BY: Underhill ent privilege by disclosing privileged conversa-
DATE: July 15, 2020 • PAGES: 17 tions with his school headmaster. It reasoned
The court sentenced defendant to 120 months’ that Roe was 16 at the time and likely found his
imprisonment after he pled guilty to one headmaster to be a friend and source of sup-
count of possession with intent to distribute port, and therefore denied plaintiff ’s motion to

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