Richard Colangelo Jr. is best known for his work as prosecutor in the case of Fotis Dulos, a real estate developer charged with murder after his wife’s disappearance.
But before that, the man who Thursday became Connecticut’s chief state’s attorney had captivated the country during another high-profile case. And attorneys involved say what happened behind the scenes set the attorney apart.
“It’s very telling about the person Richard is,” said
Ernie Teitell, who taught Colangelo at Quinnipiac University School of Law in the early 1990s, and later observed him in that case.
Back then, Colangelo had helped prosecute New Canaan
resident Michael Farren, who was deputy counsel to then-President George W. Bush. Farren is serving a 15-year prison term for nearly bludgeoning his wife, Mary Margaret Farren, to death. He was arrested in 2010, and the case drew national attention.
Colangelo would later rise to become state’s attorney for the Judicial District of Stamford/Norwalk in July 2015, a job he held until his new appointment Thursday. He was sworn in as chief state’s attorney Friday afternoon.
But before that, Teitell had noted the prosecutor’s attentiveness.
Teitell, who represented Mary Margaret Farren in her civil case, said Colangelo’s involvement in easing his client’s pain, fear and worries during the proceedings was something unusual.
“He handled the criminal case with the utmost compassion. He showed such caring to my client in a very difficult situation,” Teitell said. “She had to retell a very difficult story of being severely beaten. The case went for a while and he was always in touch with her. He was always talking to her and, as a result, she stayed in touch with him over the years. She was so grateful for his compassion, for his caring and helping her get through that time. He went beyond the call of duty of a prosecutor, and that always stuck with me.”
Years later, as word spread in the first 24 hours of Colangelo’s elevation, Teitell said his client reached out to him.
“She just called me and told me she was so happy he was named chief state’s attorney,” Teitell said.
Colleagues described Colangelo as caring and compassionate.
Edward Heath, a partner Robinson & Cole in Hartford, said he had a similar experience with the prosecutor.
That case didn’t get the publicity of the Farren case, but it’s always stood out for Heath.
Heath represented a client, whom he declined to name, in a case involving the Norwalk Police Department. He said Colangelo appeared to take a personal interest.
“What I saw was everything you want to see in a prosecutor: someone who is fair, open-minded, pragmatic and prepared,” Heath said. “Most of all, he listened. He was willing to hear us out in order to come to a fair result and the right outcome.”
Richard Meehan, an attorney for 46 years, oversees Bridgeport-based Meehan Law. He said he’s known Colangelo since “he was a baby prosecutor more than 20 years ago.”
“He is someone who is not about the convictions, but about doing the right thing,” Meehan said. “He has a good sense of fairness.”
Another former Quinnipiac law professor who taught Colangelo was Westport solo practitioner
Mark Soboslai. He taught a class that Colangelo took in the early 1990s on alternative dispute resolution.
“He’s very level-headed and deliberates carefully,” Soboslai said Friday. “It’s important when you elevate someone to chief state’s attorney that they have experience at the level of the lawyers they will be supervising. He has extensive experience, and has distinguished himself as a state’s attorney, and developed a good reputation among members of the bar.”
A Woman He Helped Years Ago Is Quietly Celebrating Richard Colangelo's Elevation | Connecticut Law Tribune
