A defamation lawsuit filed by a Republican Congressional candidate against four fellow Republicans has been dismissed by a Connecticut Superior Court Judge.
Jonathan De Barros, who served 19 years in prison after killing a man and was later pardoned, claimed in the lawsuit filed in Waterbury court in June that supporters of a political rival defamed him and inflicted emotional distress by referring to him as a murderer. De Barros, who was seeking to serve Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District, lost the primary in August to Chris Shea. Shea is looking to challenge incumbent Democrat Jahana Hayes in November.
Judge John L. Cordani said in his ruling that while a pardon can wipe clean a person’s criminal record, it does not erase the fact that De Barros killed a young man and wounded another.
“A pardon cannot discern or change the underlying facts and truth,” Cordani wrote in his ruling, adding that it relieves a person of legal consequences, but does not determine innocence. It also cannot wipe clean the “public consciousness” of what happened, he said.
De Barros has not denied what happened in 1996, and even mentions it in his biography on his own campaign website. However, he said he acted in self defense and that he was afraid because he was planning to leave a city gang.
Judge Cordani established that De Barros is a public figure who failed to meet the high burden of proving defamation. “Political speech” is protected by the first amendment. In order for a public figure to prove defamation, he or she must show that the statement made was false and that the person or persons who said it knew it was false but said it anyway or acted with a reckless disregard of the truth.
De Barros argued in his lawsuit that his pardon meant he is legally able to truthfully state he has never been arrested or convicted of the incident for which he was pardoned.
De Barros has clashed with other Republicans before. Last year Capitol Police investigated De Barros for social media posts about Republican State Chair Ben Proto, Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, and state Sen. Rob Sampson. In one video, De Barros alluded to the “stand your ground” laws that allow the use of deadly force when a person feels threatened.
De Barros later apologized for the tone of his comments, but stood by the content, according to news reports.
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