CITY TO PAY ESTATE OF JASHON BRYANT $1,625,000

The City of Hartford has reached a tentative agreement with the estate of Jashon Bryant for a one time settlement payment of $1.625 million. Although the City of Hartford Corporation Counsel has refused to release any information pursuant to an FOI request, I was able to view documents today that detailed the proposed payment to the estate.

The claim results from the fatal shooting of Jashon Bryant in 2005 by Hartford Police Deytective Robert Lawlor. Lawler reported that as he approched the vehicle in which Bryant was a passsenger he sw a gun and fired his weapon as he feared for his life from the occupants and the moving vehicle. Although no weapon was found later when the vehicle crashed, the operator of the vehicle has been serving prison time for gun and armed robbery charges unrelated to the 2005 incident.

If the City ever releases the entire documents, it should be interesting to see why they chose to pay rather than fight the claim. Although the City claims that the settlement is "sealed" and confidential, a spokesperson at the FOI Commission has a different take on the legality of that.

The State of Connecticut also has a claim on a portion of the settlement apparently for close to $200,000 for money Brant owed to the State for support payments and other items.

Detective Lawlor, who was arrested for the shooting, was eventually acquitted of any criminal charges by a Superior Court jury in 2009.