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Assistant State’s Attorney Marjorie Sozanski said the state felt that while the probable cause burden for an arrest was reached, obtaining a conviction at trial would have been difficult, particularly since the alleged victim is deceased and therefore couldn’t be called upon to testify.
"The case had its difficulties," Sozanski said.
"We felt there would have been significant issues with meeting the burden of proof at trial — the burden of beyond a reasonable doubt," Sozanski said.
Shelton police received a complaint in October 2005 from a woman who reported that her father had passed away, and she had been named executrix of his estate.
The woman noticed that her father paid the Mateczkos’ car and home insurance, fines and rent payments over the last decade, police said at the time. The elderly man suffered from confusion late in his life, according to police.
Police obtained known handwriting samples that the elderly man had written prior to his death in the summer of 2005. These handwriting samples were compared to the checks and other documents in the man’s name that had been given to the Mateczkos.
A laboratory analysis of the handwriting concluded that the man could not be identified as the signer of the documents, police said at the time.
The charge of second-degree larceny involves thefts that exceed $5,000, but are less than $10,000. Police at the time claimed the theft may have been in the range of $60,000, but indicated they had not been able to find proof or documentation of the full amount.
Attorney Norman Pattis, who represents the Mateczkos, said Tuesday his clients "never stole or forged anything." The couple had been close friends with the deceased, he said.
"The dismissal of this case is the right outcome," Pattis said. "They are hardworking people, and care deeply about their reputation."
Pattis said the man who died had given his clients a car, and he asserted that all transactions were legitimate.
"There was no evidence of wrongdoing that any jury with any sense would have believed," Pattis said. "We are very happy with this outcome."
From The New Haven Register, May 9, 2007.
