Cops light sentence doesn't fit the crime

07/19/2006

A New Haven Register editorial

Wonders in Bridgeport never cease. The last mayor went to federal prison for shaking down contractors.

The current mayor, John Fabrizi, is winning support, instead of an arrest warrant, after being forced to admit that he regularly snorted cocaine.

And, a white cop who targeted minority residents in a 2004 shooting rampage at a city housing project will do no jail time for what could have been a mass murder except for his poor aim and a malfunctioning gun.

In true Bridgeport fashion, the now ex-cop, John Biehn, would never have been hired in 2000 if the police had adhered to state standards and rejected his application because of a breach of peace conviction.

During his May trial, three of the Marina Village project’s residents said Biehn pointed a gun at their heads and tried to shoot them. A fourth said Biehn fired at him as he ran away.

The prosecutor described Biehn as "one of the most dangerous persons" in the state of Connecticut.

Biehn testified that he was drunk and didn’t remember a thing.

Good enough for a jury that convicted him only of dumping his gun where a child could find it.

Good enough for Superior Court Judge George Thim, who gave Biehn way too much credit for his military service in Afghanistan and Cuba. Earlier this month, Thim gave Biehn a one-year suspended sentence and three years probation. He also has to get treatment for substance abuse and stay away from guns.

The sentence doesn’t fit the violence of the crime. It makes as much sense as having a mayor who is a self-admitted felon in charge of the police department.