Man gets 18 months for threatening divorce judge in email
A Connecticut man described by supporters as a hardworking, loving father and dedicated community volunteer was sentenced Tuesday to serve 18 months for sending an email that threatened the judge who oversaw his contentious divorce case.
After more than a year of home confinement as he awaited the verdict, Edward “Ted” Taupier, 50, got a five-year prison term, suspended after 18 months, and five years of probation, the Hartford Courant reports. He was convicted in October, after an April bench trial, of threatening, disorderly conduct and breach of peace.
His lawyer, Rachel Baird, had argued that Taupier wasn’t clearly connected to an email concerning Hartford Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Bozzuto. According to evidence presented in court, it discussed the “245 yrds between her master bedroom and a cemetery that provides cover and concealment” and later said “they can steal my kids from my cold dead bleeding cordite filled fists … as my 60 round mag falls to the floor and im dying as I change out to the next 30 rd.”
If, in fact, Taupier did send such an email, he was venting his frustration with the family court system rather than making a threat, Baird argued.
However, Judge David Gold found that Taupier should have known the email “would be seen as threatening and create a risk of terror,” even though he sent it individuals unhappy with the court system rather than to Bozzuto directly.
One of the recipients sent a portion of the email to a lawyer, who notified authorities, resulting in Taupier’s arrest, the Courant article explains.
Bozzuto said prior to Taupier’s sentencing that she still is awaiting a day when she doesn’t have to worry that Taupier isn’t lying in wait to shoot her at her home. She asked for a no-contact order for the maximum possible amount of time.
“As judges, we do not waive our right to be protected by the law,” she said. “It is one thing for groups or individuals to pursue reform or change through the democratic or legislative process … It is quite another thing to attempt to hold justice hostage and extort change by way of intimidation, threats and violence.”
Taupier reportedly plans to appeal his conviction.
