NEW HAVEN -- A Superior Court judge ordered suspended sentences and probation for a couple charged in the deaths of two of their tenants during a 2004 fire.
In handing down no jail time, Judge Joan Alexander said she weighed the couple's otherwise "unblemished record" as landlords and the disputed facts in the case against the serious allegations by the state and tragic reality — a young mother and her 2-year-old daughter died in the blaze.
Prosecutor Judith Dicine had implored the court to impose at least some jail time for Guillermo and Maria Morera. By not installing smoke alarms in 175 Plymouth St., she argued, the couple violated the most important state fire code, with which it would have taken perhaps "$8 and five minutes" to comply.
Instead, Gladys Montenegro, 25, and her 17-month-old daughter, Cindy Maria, were killed in the Jan. 9, 2004 fire.
Alexander, however, opted for a two-year suspended sentence followed by probation. The Moreras also must pay $10,000 to the Shriner’s Hospital burn unit or some other fire prevention organization of their choice.
In addition, the couple also must allow inspections of their other rental properties by the Fire Department Fire Marshal's office and Livable City Initiative, the city's anti-blight agency. Any violations must be corrected within 30 days or the couple face a violation of their probation.
The judge then ordered the Moreras must write a letter to the family of the victims. "That letter of apology is a small — and I note small — step you can take in showing your sincere remorse," the judge said.
Defense attorney Thomas Cadden had argued for leniency. While the official cause is undetermined, he noted that all indications are that the fire started in Montenegro’s room where she was cooking something in oil. His clients maintained throughout the court process that there in fact were working smoke detectors, he said.
They pleaded guilty under the Alford doctrine to two counts of criminally negligent homicide and the fire code violation because taking the case to trial would have been too risky.
Cadden said the state is unfairly trying to make an example of his clients to other landlords.
"They picked the wrong people. If you want a slumlord, go pick out a slumlord but these people aren’t it," Cadden said. At a court hearing last year, a parade of tenants came to testify on their landlords’ behalf.
The husband and wife, who are 58 and 57 respectively, said nothing during the hearing. A Spanish interpreter translated for them. Cadden described them as a hard working couple trying to live the American dream.
Dicine said the couple wasn’t singled out as an example, although the state is always mindful of opportunities to remind landlords of their obligations.
Fire Marshal Joseph Cappucci, who attended the sentencing, said landlords with concerns about fire code violations can give his office a call.
"We’ll work with you. I’d much rather go out and do 50 inspections and find few things wrong than be part of an investigation into a fatal fire," Cappucci said after the hearing.
Gladys Montenegro and her daughter had moved into the house a short time before the fire. The house is legally a two-family structure but a rooming house was being operated on the third floor, where Montenegro lived.
İNew Haven Register 2006