To the Editor:

I would like to express my support for the re-election of Mitch Bolinsky in the race for House of Representatives, serving our community in Hartford for the 106th District.

I believe Mitch and I started to discuss the importance of introducing a bill for An Act Concerning Newly Discovered Evidence in 2015.

We met for coffee on two or three occasions, and I presented my concerns about the importance of a bill of this kind, and he listened and made notes, and might I say, was extremely supportive. Mitch and his support gave me courage to continue on my journey to make this bill a reality for the wrongly accused in our great state.

In 2017, Legislative Proposal Revisions included language to permit the filing of a petition for a new trial claiming actual innocence when newly discovered evidence has become available, as had been presented and written by the Innocence Project. Mitch talked it up in the House, and a window of opportunity opened. My friend Gina Legnani Pellrine, Trinity Church, and Attorney Damon Kirschbaum provided background support as we moved forward in our quest to make this a statute in Connecticut and help right some mistaken wrongs by shining technology’s new light on them.

As we persevere, SB-509 passed Senate and the House and was signed by the Governor, amending Connecticut General Statute 52-582, Section one to allow the introduction of new evidence. We won!

Mitch Bolinsky is my choice for State Representative. We need a representative who will take on the tough fights, never give up, and work to move Newtown and the state of Connecticut forward at the Capitol.

Peggy Jepsen

16 South Main Street, Newtown         October 5, 2018