Family of Murdered Valley Girl Gets A Victory at Legislature

The family of Joyce Stochmal won a battle Wednesday in their to fight for changes in Connecticut's laws as they seek what they believe to be justice in trying to ensure that no family endures the pain they've experienced from the murder of their family member.

The state Judiciary Committee voted to send HB 5407, An Act to Establish a Habeas Task Force to the General Assembly to vote on it.

Marianne Stochmal Heffernan, Joyce's sister said: "One step closer to becoming real, a task force to study and FIX the habeas system in Connecticut. Please share, and stay tuned to this page for next steps on how you can help us get this passed. It basically means emailing or calling your state reps - the ones who you vote for, who represent your town or city - to let them know that you are in favor of habeas reform and want this bill to be passed. We need all the help we can get to send a loud message, to stop wasting tax dollars on BS habeas claims and reform the process to be efficient and fair to all of us."

Last year David Weinberg, convicted in 1989 of the 1984 stabbing murder of Joyce Stochmal of Seymour — was released on time served, following seven years of work by the Connecticut Innocence Project.

The approval of a "sentence modification" by Judge Roland D. Fasano allowed Weinberg, 58, to be released after serving 26 years of a 60-year "life sentence" — although credit for good behavior and other time he earned raised the time he is credited with serving to 39 years and 27 days.

Weinberg's conviction will stand — something that both Platt and Marianne Heffernan said was important to the family and the state.

According to testimony in his trial, Weinberg drove by Joyce Stochmal as she was walking along Route 188 in Seymour to her job at a dog kennel, carrying her purse and a duffel bag holding a makeup case and a change of clothes, included jeans, a T-shirt and underwear. Police said he grabbed her and took her to an area beneath Steel Bridge in Newtown, where he stabbed her 17 times and left her body in Lake Zoar, a dammed section of the Housatonic River.

Her body was found three days later by three people out fishing.

Here is the testimony Marianne Stochmal Heffernan submitted to the Judiciary Committee:

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:
My name is Marianne Heffernan, and I live in Southbury. Thank you for the opportunity to offer testimony. I am here on behalf of my family, the family of Joyce Stochmal of Seymour, to speak in favor of House Bill 5407 regarding a proposed habeas task force.
My reasons can best be explained by my family’s personal experience with it. My sister Joyce was 19 years old when she was murdered by a stranger, David Weinberg, in 1984. The habeas system in Connecticut, we believe, played a devastating part in the unimaginable release from his life sentence last year, as a convicted murderer given a modified sentence of “time served” (but still guilty).
Without going into the back story, here are a couple of things we learned about the habeas system:

• Unlimited bites at the apple. In other words, a convicted criminal can file multiple habeas claims.
• Lack of notification. As the family of a murder victim, we were never notified that Weinberg was trying to get out of his sentence through the habeas process. Because of that, we were denied our right to be there, or even to protest against it. We could not represent the victim’s side of the case. The mere presence of our family may have had an impact on the proceedings. We never got that chance.

What unspoken message does it send to a judge when he asks if the victim’s family is in the courtroom, and is told no?
It also most certainly would have had an impact on the defendant’s comfort level in the proceedings. This same defendant, who was comfortable to testify in his first habeas case, chose NOT to testify during his murder trial, where our family was well represented in the courtroom.
A second habeas followed. Again, we were not notified and had no idea that he was trying yet again to get out of his sentence, until last year when that habeas case forced the state to work out a deal to let him out. You can imagine our horror.
The lack of notification each time was in spite of the fact that I had made written requests to the Department of Correction and the Office of Victim Services, to be notified if there were any activity in his case, post-incarceration.
In the end, it may not have mattered that our family wasn’t there to observe that first habeas. Weinberg lost that case. It may not have mattered to the outcome, but as a family that suffered through the ordeal of losing a loved one to murder, it mattered to us.
My family believes that if the habeas system in Connecticut had tighter guidelines, David Weinberg would still be in prison where he rightfully belongs.
I am asking you to please support this bill and help to get it passed into law. I would also ask that you consider including in the proposed task force a representative that would bring a victim’s perspective. As our family learned, there truly is no one to represent the victim’s family in these cases. The defendants have public defenders or private attorneys, the state is represented by the prosecutor, but the victim’s family stands alone.
I also would hope that the committee includes a strong researcher who will look for the hard information that can quantify the issues with the habeas system. Things like:

• The criteria for filing a legitimate habeas. Is it clear and specific, or is there room for ambiguity to fuel frivolous claims?
• How many chances does an individual get on a particular crime? Unlimited chances should never be allowed.
• What is the time limit for filing a habeas case? In our case, Weinberg’s first habeas was filed in 1997. That was 13 years after he killed my sister, nine years after he was convicted by a jury and sentenced, and seven years after he lost his final appeal to the state Supreme Court. Time has relevance and impact. Memories fade. Evidence deteriorates. There are a number of reasons why it’s unfair to allow these habeas claims to be filed, after so many years have passed.

We are grateful to Rep. Themis Klarides for proposing this bill. We hope that the habeas process will finally get the scrutiny, the scrubbing, and the corrections it needs.

Thank you for your attention.

Marianne V. (Stochmal) Heffernan