Judge Burns re-appoints Richard Bieder as Special Master, remarking that he is working on a report which is in the interest of all parties to see finished. In response to the Defendants’ concerns, he has offered to work pro bono. (Source)  

Two months later, Bieder submits his first Report and Recommendations, the culmination of twenty-five hearings, 1,843 pages of testimony, and 5,300 pages of evidence regarding the 2004 order and the HPD’s complaint system. (Source) He finds that the defendants violated the following provisions of the 2004 Order: they failed to appoint eight IAD investigators to reduce the backlog of complaints; they failed to provide community-based organizations with training in the complaint process; they failed to ensure complaint investigations be completed within thirty days; they failed to notify complainants upon completion of the case’s disciplinary proceeding; and they failed to provide complainants with certain informational materials such as an appeal form should their complaint be dismissed, as many are. Additionally, Bieder finds that the Defendants did not begin to enact the 2004 Order until six months after it was signed, when the Plaintiffs filed a motion for contempt. Bieder adds Mayor Eddie Perez as a defendant in the case, because the new city charter of Hartford gave him most of the powers formerly held by city manager Elisha Freedman, an original defendant.

Bieder recommended sanctions including: that the HPD release an extensive public relations campaign to inform citizens about the complaint procedure and promote its ease; that if the complaint backlog gets to a designated level, the IAD will gain a temporary full-time employee until it is eased; that any complainant who was not adequately informed regarding the status of their complaint or their right to appeal shall be contacted and the lack remedied; that the plaintiffs maintain the right to monitor IAD files and determine whether all available witnesses are being interviewed; that the burden of proof in complaint investigations be changed from “clearly proven” to “a preponderance of the evidence”; and that the parties will meet and confer on a variety of remaining minor issues. “I’m happy. The judge has affirmed what we have been saying all along. We are ready to sit down and to negotiate,” said Carmen Rodriguez, chair of the Cintron negotiating committee. (Source)  

The Defendants submit objections to Special Master Bieder’s report, accusing him of impartiality towards the plaintiffs. (Source) In November, Judge Burns ruled in favor of three of the five violations recommended by Bieder.