John Speziale, 82, Connecticut Chief Justice -- Rest in Peace

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Subject: John Speziale, 82, Connecticut Chief Justice

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cancer

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Date Posted: January 07, 2005 1:33:42 EDT

John A. Speziale, who helped modernize the Connecticut court system and served as its chief justice in the 1980's, died on Monday at his home in Torrington. He was 82.

Justice Speziale, who served in all three branches of state government, was the chief court administrator who put into effect reforms mandated by the state legislature to consolidate the courts. As the system's top manager from 1977 to 1981, doubling as a justice of the state's Supreme Court, he also instituted five-day workweeks for judges and greater accountability.

Before that, he had prompted national headlines as the trial judge in the sensational case against Peter Reilly, who was accused of killing his mother, Barbara Gibbons, in 1973, when he was 18. Mr. Reilly was convicted of manslaughter in 1974. His fate became a cause c�l�bre when newly discovered evidence gained him the public support of people like the playwright Arthur Miller.

In an unusual move, Justice Speziale, then a judge on the state's Superior Court, voided the jury's guilty verdict in 1976 and ordered a new trial, which was never carried out.

John Albert Speziale was born on Nov. 21, 1922, in Winsted, Conn., the son of Sicilian immigrants, and studied at Duke University, where he received a B.A. in economics in 1943 and a J.D. in 1947. In between he served in the Navy.

He went into private practice in 1948 and in the 1950's became a senior partner in Speziale, Mettling, Lefebre & Burns in Torrington. He also served as a city attorney for Torrington and in 1958 won election as state treasurer on the Democratic ticket headed by Abraham A. Ribicoff.

Switching to the judicial branch in 1961, Justice Speziale then served as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Elevated to Superior Court in 1965, he was presiding judge of its appellate division and chief judge of the court from 1975 to 1977, when he joined the Supreme Court bench. He was its chief justice from 1981 to 1984.

He returned to private practice in 1984 and was with Cummings & Lockwood. Most recently he was of counsel to the firm.

Justice Speziale is survived by his wife of 60 years, Mary Kocsis Speziale; a son, John A. Jr. of Pawcatuck, Conn.; a daughter, Marcia Jean Speziale of Hamden, Conn.; and two grandchildren.

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