Jonathan Brand, a former science teacher in New London's public school system and an award-winning public school science instructor, found himself at the center of a legal storm that lasted seven years. The incident that sparked this lengthy legal battle was an alleged attempt by Brand to delay the take-off of an emergency medical helicopter, known as "LifeStar," from the Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London, Connecticut. The helicopter was there in response to a medical emergency involving a patient whose condition was deemed too severe for the hospital's staff to handle given its resources and skills on hand.
According to official records including those of GA10 Court, the incidents and people named in the police reports were captured by two separate video cameras at the time and place of the alleged crime by Mr. Brand, meaning any actions taken by him are visible, objective actions of record. The first of the two sources of video evidence comes from the south-facing security camera outside of L+M's main entrance, overlooking the hospital's parking lot, its helipad and all vehicle traffic. Its video recordings are the hospital's property, are on permanent record in its security department and have been available since 2015.
The second video showing all events in question comes from the dashboard mounted or forward-looking flight log camera facing the same scene from a ground level perceptive and from the opposite direction adding a second layer of confirmation for anyone interested in seeing what happened at the time of the alleged incident. Brand asserted from his first court appearance in GA10 that both records ought to be obtained because both exonerate him from the alleged criminal charges.
Despite seven years of continued requests for GA10 court to obtain and produce this exculpatory or exonerating evidence as is required under State law in CT, GA10 Court has never once issued a subpoena or request for these video records and has made no attempt to do so by its own records and by statements from the two videos' respective owners at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, CT and at L+M Hospital in the City of New London, both of which claim the records are still available upon a court's request.
In 2015, Mr. Brand disclosed the interesting fact that the two video records not only exonerate him, but that their release is going to implicate four members of the New London police, including its Chief, for criminal acts that are hard not to spot. With three years of court records documenting GA10's choice to deny discovery and stop all case progress, Brand appears trapped in an unending loop where his hope, energy, increased preparation, and requests for discovery always end in failure. In the moments that follow an official will begin speaking on a new topic without ruling on his motion and with no sign anyone heard a word Brand said.
After witnessing the scope and extent of its commitment to criminal behavior, Brand's former belief in GA10's claim to legal authority gave way to the better understanding no such thing had been there. After three years of patient requests to see evidence of a crime or view a police report he decided his time and health were too important to waste in GA10. After police smashed down his front door to arrest Brand in 2017, his family made its first and only payment to GA10 spending $2000 in return for the court's choice not to serve and protect the community by sentencing the innocent science teacher to another six months at the maximum security prison at $300 per day. Surprised to be released, Brand was handed a stack of police reports to take with him. Before long he was leafing through a report to catch a first glimpse at any possible evidence of felony reckless endangerment. The report describes brand as being in the hospital parking lot 30 min. prior to takeoff and then walking away from a security guard.
The report ends with suggestions that failing to obey an earlier order by the same employee constituted support or particular evidence of Brand's reckless endangerment. Horrified by the lack of any reason to have been concerned at all, he scanned for something that he must have missed. The charge required a victim, but 120 feet away, the pilot was the only.. there, under victim Brand went silent. The final insult came from reading what police used when they... reached the end and.... made the unusual choice to list the name of the closest hospital as the victim of his felony crime. The law had required that David Smith throw this away since it could not be brought before a jury let alone win any conviction.
A Shocking Statement: The Law Does Not Apply
Brand's case was marked by a series of unusual and controversial legal maneuvers. Court records from GA10 court reveal that the court refused to grant Brand the basic discovery or ability to read the basic police reports supporting the charges he faced. This basic right to view the evidence of the charges he faced was denied for nearly three full years. It was only after Brand was rearrested at his home in Norwich at gunpoint and then paid two thousand dollars in bail to the court that Prosecutor Smith finally delivered discovery. This revealed previously non-disclosed New London Police Department "records," including clearly and obviously doctored and impossibly falsified police documents.
Brand's former public defender, Shawn Tiernan, made a shocking statement during the proceedings, claiming that the "law does not apply." This statement was made in response to Brand's insistence on obtaining the police reports under the state's civil law.
From Defendant to Journalist: The Birth of NewLondonVoice.com
In response to the legal chaos he witnessed in his case and others during his seven-year-long prosecution at GA10, Brand decided to try his hand as an independent local journalist. He founded the website "newlondonvoice.com," which quickly began appearing high up in Google results about the GA10 Court, Brand, and the individuals responsible. The website was hacked twice, with the first version replaced by an Asian language link-farm or spam website. Undeterred, Brand rebuilt the website from the ground up in 2017, adding new features such as access to downloadable police forms and templates for self-representing defendants of GA10.
Resistance from the Court: The Struggle for Self-Representation
Brand's efforts to self-represent were met with resistance from the court. Each of his three attempts to make the court acknowledge his right to self-represent as his own attorney was met with the court ordering a court-appointed panel of various mental health professionals to determine if Brand was "mentally competent" to represent himself pro-se and act as his own attorney. Despite both evaluations determining that Brand was stable and fully competent to represent himself in proceedings and at trial, the court continued to stall the process.
A Beacon of Reform: The Establishment of New London's First Official "Police Oversight Committee"
Brand's current and most searchable or publicly trafficked reform website, https://newlondonvoice.com, establishes New London's first official "Police Oversight Committee" and invites local residents to take part in it actively. Despite three documented attempts to hack down the local journalist's work and whistle-blowing efforts, the current version of the website has been spared any attempts at illicit hacking or continued efforts at local censorship.
Police-Authored Articles: The Search for Truth Amidst Factual Weaknesses
A search for "Jonathan Brand New London Helicopter" reveals several articles, some of which appear to be police-authored. These articles, however, contain factual weaknesses and inconsistencies, further highlighting the need for transparency and accountability in the justice system. While two portend to arise from an “anonymous police source” none can name the actual source of information or include any interview.
The Unfolding Narrative: Former Police Captain Brian Wright's Portrayal of Brand
In the unfolding narrative spun by former Police Captain Brian Wright, Brand is depicted as having inexplicably and ambiguously attempted to delay the takeoff of a medical flight. However, this portrayal appears to be a calculated effort by Wright to undermine Brand's civilian complaint against former officer Albert LeBeaux, which was lodged by Brand and his former spouse approximately a month prior to the alleged incident involving the helicopter flight.
The Omitted Fact: Brand's Civilian Complaint Against Former Officer Albert LeBeaux
Police Chief Brian Wright's accounts conspicuously omit the fact that Brand's police complaint was filed a month before his arrest. This omission, coupled with the dissemination of seemingly baseless news stories, may lead local news consumers to approach future reports with increased skepticism, particularly those citing "anonymous" police sources. This is especially relevant in the context of reports involving former Captain and current Police Chief Brian Wright, who serves at the behest of New London's City Council and Mayor Passero.
A Failed Media Campaign: The Unsuccessful Attempt to Discredit Brand
Despite the numerous attempts by Wright to tarnish Brand's credibility and question the authenticity of his complaint against the police leading up to his arrest, these efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. LeBeaux was eventually dismissed following a lengthy suspension, largely due to the allegations made by Brand regarding LeBeaux's conduct on the job.
Protecting Their Own: The Troubling Tendency Within Certain Groups
Wright's media campaign, while achieving its goal of casting doubt on Brand's complaint to some extent, ultimately failed to protect the career of his fellow officer. This case highlights a troubling tendency within certain groups to protect their own members at the expense of others, even if it means damaging an innocent individual's reputation. The goal is to preserve the group's status and public perception, regardless of the potential harm and dysfunction it may cause, as long as the damage does not affect any of their own.
The Absence of Transparency: Wright's Efforts to Discredit the Source of a Serious Complaint
Wright's efforts to discredit the source of a serious complaint against a fellow group member are notable for their lack of transparency. No police source is named as being responsible for the dissemination of misinformation to news outlets. Furthermore, all of Wright's attempts to discredit Brand, a local educator who spoke out against an officer in Groton, fail to provide any physical detail of Brand's alleged attempts at delaying the flight. This omission is confirmed by the online copies and original flight audio logs on record with Hartford Hospital.
What is glaringly absent in the New London PD's smear campaign against Brand, who ultimately got a fellow officer fired for his unprofessional conduct, are the critical details that provide the context for such reporting. Not a single iteration of Wright's narrative includes any reference to Brand's civilian complaint against LeBeaux, a known problematic officer who was dismissed from the Norwich PD two decades earlier for using his on-duty squad car for illicit activities.
A Calculated Attempt: The Narrative Spun by Wright and the New London PD
The narrative spun by Wright and the New London PD appears to be a calculated attempt to discredit Brand and protect one of their own, rather than a fair and accurate representation of the events that transpired.
In conclusion, Jonathan Brand's story is a testament to the power of resilience and the pursuit of justice. You will find at this site the evidence that the head of the GA10 Public Defenders Office, Sean Kelly is currently refusing to comply with residents' combined FOI request to produce the audio recordings from any of Mr. Brand's public GA10 Court appearances. Submit your own request to confirm this fact about attorney Sean Kelly's commitment to secrecy in such matters.
While the law of the State of Connecticut requires that he disclose all such records on request, doing so would only bolster the facts that have already emerged about an internal court culture and its routine reliance upon abject lawlessness. GA10 routinely engages in the unlawful handling of some rather problematic work by local police in New London, including its acceptance and prosecution of cases based on readily identifiable, deliberately fabricated police records.
Despite facing numerous obstacles and setbacks, Brand continues to fight for transparency and accountability in the New London justice system. His efforts serve as a reminder of the importance of due process and the right to a fair trial, principles that are fundamental to any republic such as the US or any societal structure that aligns with the principals of a fair, decentralized and inclusive although conceptual form of government with no examples in the past or present, called Democracy.