Former assistant EW clerk gets probation
By:Jennifer Hoyt, Journal Inquirer
01/24/2007
A former assistant town clerk in East Windsor who was accused of embezzling over $1,000 from the town was granted a special form of probation Tuesday that can result in the dismissal of charges.
The woman, Christina L. Davis, 29, of 52 Field Road in Somers was granted accelerated rehabilitation at Manchester Superior Court by Judge Raymond R. Norko. Acceptance into the program, granted to first-time offenders, doesn't require an admission of guilt.
If she's successful in the probationary program for nine months, the charges against her will be dismissed. She's scheduled to return to court on Oct. 26.
Davis was arrested on Feb. 8, 2006, after she turned herself in to East Windsor police. She was charged with second-degree larceny and false bookkeeping entry by an officer or agent of a public community.
Those charges were reduced on her accelerated rehabilitation program application to third-degree larceny.
Senior Assistant State's Attorney Keith DuBoff of Enfield Superior Court, where the case was originally heard, said he'd discussed Davis' application with the "appropriate authorities in East Windsor." He said they're satisfied with Davis being granted the program.
Davis' lawyer, Michael J. Devlin, said his client had been prepared to go to trial, but decided instead that she just wanted to move on.
He said that Davis signed a release that she wouldn't pursue a wrongful discharge action against the town, while the town agreed not to seek restitution.
Davis filed a wrongful discharge grievance against the town through her union on May 8, a week after she was terminated from her job, East Windsor Town Clerk Karen Gaudreau said today. Davis had been placed on paid administrative leave from December 2005 until her termination, Gaudreau said.
Police began investigating Davis in October 2005, after Gaudreau discovered that approximately $1,200 in town funds had been stolen from her office over a 13-month period, according to an affidavit supporting Davis' arrest.
Gaudreau noticed approximately 61 suspicious entries on cash register journal tapes, indicating that refunds had been paid out from the register. Gaudreau said there weren't any corresponding transactions that funds had been received, says the affidavit, written by Officer Chester D. Aseltine.
Gaudreau found that the unusual entries began three days after Davis was hired and didn't occur on days she was absent, the affidavit says.
Davis told police that she made the entries indicating that refunds had been made, but said they had all been legitimate refunds or were made to make up for shortages in another register, the affidavit says.
Gaudreau said the special form of probation for Davis was the wish of the town.
"If that was the recommendation of the prosecutor and agreed upon by the town, then we just have to move forward from here," she said.
©Journal Inquirer 2007
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