O'Neil asked that the Judiciary Committee delay the vote so it could look into Marcus's conduct. The committee rejected that motion and then voted 28-12 to send Marcus' nomination on to the House and Senate.
Sen. Edward Meyer, D-Guilford, is a former federal prosecutor. He said he voted against Marcus in the Judiciary Committee on the basis of her answers about her gifting table involvement, and her answers about her role in the town mediation.
Before the March 6 vote in the Senate, Meyer said pressure was being exerted by the administration of Gov. Dannel Malloy, and legislative leadership, to assure Marcus was approved.
"This is a very bad situation here where people don't want to look at the competence and integrity issues here, and people just want to get through this" with a vote, said Meyer. "There's a lot of arm-twisting and it's not a good situation."
Meyer said he had perused more than 200 pages of transcript from the gifting trial testimony. "I read that she was paid $55,000 for seven months' work, but had not even given her clients a professional opinion about whether the gifting tables were legal or illegal," he said.
"To take that size of a fee, and not advise about the legality or illegality of the scheme ... raises very serious questions about her competence," Meyer said.
A phone call to the Marcus Law Firm seeking comment was not immediately returned.
Other judicial nominees approved by the legislature included Appellate Court nominee Christine Keller of Hartford, and Superior Court nominees Michael Albis, of East Haven; Thomas Colin, of Ridgefield; Melanie Cradle, of Middlefield; Karen Goodrow, of Chester; Sheila Huddleston, of West Hartford; Robyn Stewart Johnson, of Glastonbury; Michael Kamp, of Hamden; Charles Lee, of Greenwich; Jason Lobo, of Suffield; Maurice Mosley, of Waterbury; Thomas Moukawsher, of Groton; Andrew Roraback, of Goshen; Hope Seeley, of Coventry; and Anthony Truglia, of Stamford.•
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