Legendary trial attorney F. Lee Bailey is heading to Waterbury next week, to headline a public forum at the downtown Palace Theater on creating a transparent and just criminal justice system.
The Sept. 28 event is being sponsored by two Connecticut criminal lawyers, Norman Pattis and Martin J. Minella.
Pattis, a Bethany attorney, represents Minella, a Waterbury lawyer, in an ongoing federal investigation into alleged ties between Minella and Waterbury State’s Attorney John Connelly.
Investigators reportedly are looking into trips the two men allegedly took together to Las Vegas.
Pattis’ office said he was to be in the courtroom all day Wednesday and unavailable for comment.
Reached late Wednesday, Minella said the event is not related to the pending federal probe.
As for the forum’s timing, Minella said Bailey will be in Connecticut for a speaking engagement at Foxwoods Resort and Casino the day before.
Bailey could not be immediately located for comment.
Bailey’s talk is titled, “Nothing But the Facts: Fighting Legal Fictions with Facts,” according to an event press release.
“Sex scandals involving government officials with public money,” the release states, “politically motivated prosecutorial witch hunts, business corruption at billion dollar levels, and other malfeasance from governors’ mansions to board rooms to top law enforcement offices — What are the causes? What are the consequences? And what can an informed public do to effect change?”
The 7 p.m. event is free and open to the public.
