Sentence reversed in WL child molestation case

Alex Wood, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
·4 min read

Mar. 23—The state Supreme Court has upheld a man's conviction for repeatedly molesting a girl in Windsor Locks in 2013, when she was 9, but has held his sentence illegal and ordered that he be resentenced.

The man, Jose Antonio Rosario, now 46, was convicted at a 2018 Hartford Superior Court trial of four counts of first-degree sexual assault, each reflecting a different type of sex act the jury found he engaged in with the girl, and three counts of risk of injury to a child.

Senior Judge Frank M. D'Addabbo Jr. gave Rosario 20-year prison sentences on each of the sexual-assault counts, followed by 10 years' probation, with the possibility of up to five more years behind bars if he were to violate release conditions. The judge imposed 10-year prison terms on each of the risk of injury counts, with the sentences on all counts running concurrent to one another.

SENTENCE REVERSED

DEFENDANT: Jose Antonio Rosario, now 46, who has lived in Windsor Locks, Enfield, and Hartford

CONVICTIONS: Four counts of first-degree sexual assault and three counts of risk of injury to a child

ILLEGAL SENTENCE: 25 years, suspended after 20 years in prison, followed by 10 years' probation

WHY ILLEGAL: State law doesn't allow probation to be included in sentences for Class A felonies, which first-degree sexual assault is in this case because of the victim was younger than 16.

The problem with the sentence was the probation, according to the unanimous Supreme Court decision issued Friday. First-degree sexual assault is a Class A felony, punishable by up to 25 years in prison when the victim is younger than 16, and Connecticut law doesn't allow sentences that include probation for Class A felonies.

The reversal of the sentence will give Rosario's lawyers another chance to make their case for a lesser sentence. If he has done well in prison, they can use that information in making their case.

But Rosario won't be getting out of prison anytime soon. Connecticut's mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison for a first-degree sexual assault on a child younger than age 10 will apply, and the 10-year sentences Rosario received on the risk of injury counts remain in effect.

Online state Department of Correction records show that Rosario has been an inmate since Aug. 26, 2016, the day after his arrest in the case, meaning that he has served less than half the 10-year minimum sentence he could receive.

Rosario's challenge to his conviction was based on claims that prosecutor Anthony Bochicchio made improper comments to the jury during final arguments.

The six Supreme Court justices who heard the case rejected all those claims but said one of them caused them "somewhat greater concern" than the others.

That was Bochicchio's statement to the jury that "the true test ... of a party's credibility is how they do on cross-examination, when they're questioned by the opposing party."

Rosario didn't testify at the trial, and his court-appointed lawyers — Megan L. Wade, James P. Sexton, and Emily Graner Sexton — argued that the prosecutor's comment invited the jury to hold that against him, which would be improper.

"We are troubled by the prosecutor's remark, given that the term 'party' has 'a technical legal meaning, referring to those by or against whom a legal suit is brought ... the party plaintiff or defendant ...'" Justice Steven D. Ecker wrote for the court, quoting one of its earlier decisions.

"This isolated comment, if viewed formalistically and devoid of context, could be construed to mean that the defendant's out-of-court statements were less worthy of belief" than the girl's "in-court testimony because they could not be subjected to the 'true test' of credibility commended by the prosecutor," Ecker continued.

But he added that the court's concerns were assuaged by the context of the remark, which he said made clear that Bochicchio was talking about the credibility of the girl at that point, rather than attacking the credibility of Rosario's statements to police, which had been read to the jury.

For updates on Glastonbury, and recent crime and courts coverage in North-Central Connecticut, follow Alex Wood on Twitter: @AlexWoodJI1, Facebook: Alex Wood, and Instagram: @AlexWoodJI.

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