Defendants withdraw consent to the appointment of a Special Master to oversee Cintron, citing the costs incurred by Hartford taxpayers without apparent benefit.⁹⁹  Judge Burns reappoints 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.¹⁰⁰  

Two months later, Bieder submits his first Findings of Fact 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. ¹⁰¹ He finds that the defendants violated several provisions of the 2004 Order, failing: 

• to appoint eight IAD investigators to reduce the backlog of complaints; 
• to provide community-based organizations with training in the complaint process; 
• to ensure complaint investigations be completed within thirty days; 
• to notify complainants upon completion of the case’s disciplinary proceeding; 
• 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: 

• the HPD release an extensive public relations campaign to inform citizens about the complaint procedure and promote its ease; 
• should the complaint backlog grow to a designated level, the IAD will gain a temporary full-time employee until it is eased; 
• 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.¹⁰² 

“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. ¹⁰³ 

The Defendants submit objections to Special Master Bieder’s report, accusing him of impartiality towards the plaintiffs.¹⁰⁴  In November, Judge Burns ruled in favor of three of the five violations recommended by Bieder. ¹⁰⁵