CT Probate Judge Dodges Major Trouble, Gets Hand-Slap In Suspected Land Grab Case Involving Now-Deceased, Dementia-Stricken 92-Year Old's $1.5M+ Farm

In Southington, Connecticut, The New Britain Herald reports:

• Local Probate Judge Bryan Meccariello has been publicly censured by the Council of Probate Judicial Conduct for his conduct in the Josephine Smoron estate issue. The council found that Meccariello “engaged in judicial misconduct” and “failed to perform the duties of his office and his conduct was prejudicial to the impartial and effective administration of justice.”

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• The council opened a hearing in June after receiving a complaint from Samuel Manzo. Josephine Smoron, his longtime employer and friend, had willed the 100-acre farm to him but, instead. the land went to three churches, two in New Britain and one in Southington. [...] The report said the council found “clear and convincing evidence” that Smoron had willed her estate to Manzo, whom she had known since 1985.

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• This is not the first time Meccariello has faced the Council on Probate Judicial Conduct. In 2007, the council found that Meccariello “probably violated judicial ethics rules” but that his actions did not rise to the level of judicial misconduct.

For more, see Conduct council censures probate judge.

For an earlier post, see CT Probate Judge With Dubious History Faces Judicial Misconduct Charges In Suspected Land Grab Involving Now-Deceased 92 Year-Old's $1.5M+ Farm.