Free Affidavit - District Court of Connecticut - Connecticut

Case 3:03-cv-00929-AWT

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT NICHOLAS SICINOLFI and THE NICHOLAS-JAMES COMPANY, Plaintiffs, v. TOWN OF TRUMBULL, MARLIN LIVELY, ANNE MOORE, RICHARD BERNARD and CHRISTOPHER PAOLETTI, Defendants. : : : : : : : : : : : :

CIVIL ACTION NO.: 303 CV 929 (AWT)

Jan. ___ , 2005

AFFIDAVIT OF NICHOLAS SICINOLFI Now Comes NICHOLAS SICINOLFI, who having first been duly sworn, does hereby depose and say: 1. I am over the age of 18 years and understand the

obligation of an oath. 2. I make this affidavit of my own personal knowledge in

opposition to Defendants' motion for summary judgment. 3. On Aug. 3, 2001 I was sitting in my car in the Trumbull

Police Station parking lot, waiting for supervised visitation

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clients

to

exchange

their

children,

when

Defendant

Paoletti,

Defendant Bernaud and another officer I did not know came out of the station and stood by my car. Defendant Bernaud was on one

side, Defendant Paoletti was on the other side, and the third officer was in the front. could not drive away. 4. Defendant Paoletti handed me a letter from Defendant I opened and read the letter. In the letter I immediately My freedom of movement was limited. I

Lively to me.

Defendant Lively revoked my Town pistol permit.

surrendered my town pistol permit to Defendant Bernaud. 5. Defendants Paoletti and Bernaud asked me to surrender my I refused. Connecticut law states

State pistol permit to them.

that a State pistol permit is surrendered to the State Department of Public Safety on receipt of a letter from the State revoking the State permit. I explained this to Defendants Bernaud and Paoletti. They continued to demand the State permit. Defendant Bernaud told

me that I was under arrest for refusing to surrender the State permit to them.

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6.

Defendant Lively was standing at a second floor window, He could

looking down at me and Defendants Bernaud and Paoletti. see what was happening. 7. questions. 8.

At no time did any of the officers present ask me any

I believed that I had been arrested by Defendants Bernaud

and Paoletta, and was in their custody, for refusing to surrender my State pistol permit to them. cuffs out. I saw Defendant Paoletta get his I

I believed that I was about to be handcuffed.

removed my watch (so it wouldn't get crushed by the cuffs) and put my hands behind my back. I was not actually cuffed, however.

Defendant Bernaud told me to go sit in the lobby. 9. During that time I sat in the lobby, about an hour and a

half, neither the Defendants nor any other member of the Trumbull police department took any other steps to complete the formalities of my arrest, to talk to me, or to instruct me further regarding submission to their authority. for an hour and a half. I left after sitting in the lobby

I felt that I was being harassed and being

made to sit there without being booked was part of the harassment. Certainly the officers knew where to find me. -3I was well known in

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the Department.

I told the desk sergeant where I was going, and

where Defendants Bernaud and Paoletti could find me, because I expected a full formal arrest, with handcuffs, search for weapons and the like, all that day. I prepared for the arrest by telling

relatives and friends what had happened and getting bond money together. 10. I did not consent to the arrest. I did not fight it but

neither did I consent to it. 11. Many family cases involve children who have yet to reach The parent who has custody of the children is The parent who does not have custody In almost every case the That

the age of majority.

called the custodial parent.

is called the noncustodial parent.

noncustodial parent has some contact with the children. contact is called visitation. 12. child.

Sometimes a noncustodial parent poses a threat to the Some parents hate each other so much that they cannot

perform the simplest act, such as exchanging children, without a screaming fight. Some individuals physically attack their

children. Some children are unusually vulnerable because they have been abused. Some individuals entitled to visitation may not have -4-

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been proved to have injured their own children, but are criminals with a history of violence towards others. A parent may be so

mentally ill that he or she cannot have custody of the children, but not so deranged that all visitation is prohibited. And a

parent with no history of crime or child abuse may nevertheless require supervised visitation harm or kidnap the children. because he or she has threatened to In those cases visitation supervised

by a neutral observer is ordered to protect the child. 13. Supervising visitation means more than guaranteeing

physical safety. The supervisor is responsible to a degree for the psychological well being of the children during visits. Visitation supervisors often report to the Family Relations Office of the Superior Court and to the childrens' therapists in addition to reporting to lawyers and parents. 14. A visitation supervisor meets with the parties and goes

over the court's orders to make sure that they are fully understood. The supervisor discusses the parties' plans for visitation A visitation

to make sure that the court's orders will be obeyed.

supervisor writes a report if necessary and is available to testify in court about the visitation. I am an experienced visitation

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supervisor.

I have been appointed by the Superior Court to

supervise visitation in dozens of cases. I have been recognized by the Superior Court as an expert in visitation.

___________________________ NICHOLAS SICINOLFI STATE OF CONNECTICUT COUNTY OF FAIRFIELD ) ) ) SS: TOWN OF FAIRFIELD

Personally appeared NICHOLAS SICINOLFI before me on Jan. ___, 2005, known or satisfactorily proven, and subscribed and swore to the truth of the foregoing as his free act and deed for the purposes therein contained.

___________________________ Notary Public My Commission expires: Comm'r of the Superior Court

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