Former New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson had a minutes-long court hearing on Tuesday, where his lawyer said that they are still waiting for a report from the state regarding new evidence.
Jacobson, who was arrested in February on two counts of Larceny in the First Degree by Defrauding a Public Community, appeared before state Superior Court Judge Tracy Lee Dayton in Courtroom 6A of the 235 Church St. courthouse at around 10:30 a.m.
Ultimately, Jacobson’s case was continued to September.
Jacobson retired on Jan. 5 immediately after the New Haven Police Department’s three assistant police chiefs confronted him about his alleged theft of public funds.
“I have a problem,” Jacobson told them, according to a state police affidavit. “I fix my alcohol problem. I turned to gambling. I don’t know why it just got worse recently.”
The state police affidavit claims that Jacobson stole $81,500 from a police confidential informants (CI) fund as well as $4,000 from the Police Activity League (PAL).
According to the affidavit, Jacobson lost a net of at least $214,000 after gambling over $4.4 million on the sports-betting apps DraftKings and FanDuel during his final year as police chief.
Jacobson, who has been released from state custody on a $150,000 bond, entered a pro forma not-guilty plea back in April. At the time, his lawyer, Gregory Cerritelli, told the Independent that the not-guilty plea is a formality enabling the pretrial process to move forward.
Once the state concludes its investigation, Cerritelli had explained, the findings will be made available to the defense as part of the discovery process, and Jacobson’s plea may or may not change.
In court on Tuesday, Cerritelli told Judge Dayton, “There has been some additional discovery.”
Cerritelli, standing alongside Jacobson, said that he is waiting for a report from the state regarding its discovery findings. Therefore, he asked that the case be continued to Sept. 14.
“You two will speak to each other?” Dayton confirmed, looking between Cerritelli and New Britain State’s Attorney Christian Watson, who is the prosecutor assigned to the case.
The attorneys responded in affirmation.
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