Connecticut Administrative Code › Title 1 - Provisions of General Application › 92 - Description of Organization and Rules of Practice › II - RULES OF PRACTICE › Article 3 - Hearing Procedure for Determination of Violations under Subsection (b) of Section 1-82 and Subsection (b) of Section 1-93 of the Connecticut General Statutes › Part 2 - Probable Cause Hearings › Section 1-92-30 - Probable cause hearings

Current through July 10, 2024
(a) The enforcement
					 division of the Office of State Ethics may request a probable cause hearing at
					 any time following the notice of complaint and shall provide notice of at least
					 forty five days prior to the start of such probable cause hearing. The
					 enforcement division may continue its preliminary investigation after providing
					 notice of a probable cause hearing.
(b) In any notice of a probable cause
					 hearing, the enforcement division will identify the complainants and
					 respondents. Subsequent to the issuance of the notice of probable cause hearing
					 no person before the Office of State Ethics other than a respondent has
					 standing as a party in the proceeding except upon the express order of the
					 Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board, its authorized designee, or of the judge trial
					 referee.
(c) The enforcement
					 division shall contact the chief court administrator prior to the date of
					 commencement of any probable cause hearing, and request that the chief court
					 administrator designate a judge trial referee to preside over the probable
					 cause hearing.
(d) Not later than
					 ten days prior to the commencement of any probable cause hearing, the
					 enforcement division shall provide the respondent with a list of its intended
					 witnesses. Not later than three days prior to the commencement of any probable
					 cause hearing, the respondent shall provide the enforcement division with a
					 list of the respondent's intended witnesses.
(e) At any probable cause hearing, the
					 following rules shall be followed in the admission of testimony and exhibits:
(1) Any oral or documentary evidence may be
					 received, but the judge trial referee shall, as a matter of policy, exclude
					 irrelevant, immaterial or unduly repetitious evidence. The judge trial referee
					 shall give effect to the rules of privilege recognized by law in Connecticut
					 where appropriate to the conduct of the hearing.
(2) Documentary evidence may be received at
					 the discretion of the judge trial referee in the form of copies or excerpts, if
					 the original is not found readily available. Upon request by any party an
					 opportunity shall be granted to compare the copy with the original, which shall
					 be subject to production by the person offering such copies, pursuant to the
					 provisions of section 52-180 of the Connecticut General Statutes.
(3) Cross-examination of witnesses shall be
					 conducted in a manner that the judge trial referee deems necessary and
					 appropriate for a full and true disclosure of facts.
(4) The judge trial referee may take
					 administrative notice of judicially cognizable facts, including the records and
					 the prior decisions, opinions, and orders of the Office of State Ethics or the
					 State Ethics Commission.
(5) The
					 judge trial referee may take administrative notice of generally recognized
					 technical facts within the Office of State Ethics' specialized knowledge.
					 Parties shall be afforded an opportunity to contest the material so noticed by
					 being notified before or during the hearing, or by an appropriate reference in
					 preliminary reports or otherwise of the material noticed.
(6) The judge trial referee may permit any
					 party or witness to offer testimony in written or recorded form. Such written
					 or recorded testimony shall be received in evidence with the same force and
					 effect as though it were stated orally by the party or witness who has given
					 the evidence, provided that the party or witness shall be present at the
					 hearing at which his or her testimony is offered, and shall adopt the written
					 or recorded testimony under oath, and shall thereafter be made available for
					 cross-examination; or
(7) In
					 hearings conducted under this section, the party that shall open and close the
					 presentation of the case shall be a member of the staff of the enforcement
					 division.