Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • Page 46

1 THE HARTFORD COURANT: Tue.dcy, Jont 6, 1995 '35 M1DDLET0WN WESTBROOK Judge denies motion for new robbery trial Temporary receiver to visit statioji after prospective owner indicted? and been convicted, he could have been sentenced to 9 1 years in prison and been fined $72,000. The ineffectual legal counsel that Fuller, now 50, cited in his motion was provided by Grady, who had been appointed by the court to represent Fuller in 1993. During Fuller's hearing Friday, Grady sat in silence. Outside the courtroom, however, he vented his anger against Fuller, who had filed a complaint against Grady with the Statewide Grievance Committee, which investigates complaints against lawyers. The committee held a hearing on the complaint, which included allegations that Grady had been intoxicated while advising Fuller, and sided with Grady.

However, Grady is still waiting for the committee's written decision. "Peter Fuller is a lifelong felon and a lifelong liar," Grady said. "He is also a lifelong writ writer." "Peter Fuller begged me to work out a deal for him in the armed robbery," Grady said, referring to the March 1992 holdup at Water's Edge Inn in which Fuller was facing robbery and kidnapping charges. "He didn't want to go to trial," Grady said. "He wanted me to make the best deal I could." Fuller was also recently sentenced to 30 years in prison in Maine, where he was charged with robbery and kidnapping in connection with the abduction of a dentist who later was found unharmed in the trunk of his car.

have no firm plans. I intend operations." Eskridge planned to tour WCNX today and meet with its management. 'r. WCNX General Manager Ray' An-drewsen said the station's programming hasiiot changed in light of the Bloch fctUm-dal. Andrewsen wanted to mdke it clear that Bloch recently withdrew his name from the group looking to purchase WCNX.

Bloch's H. Bloch, and Steve Wiegert, president of Independent Broadcasfing, are assembling a group to take-over the company. WCNX is owned by Radio Wid-dletown Inc. Bloch's representatives have operated the station since late last year as part of a Tease management agreement. Andrew-sen said he believes the sale of WCNX to the Bloch-Wiegert group is pending.

-i, Corydon L. Thurston, owner of Radio Middletown has tried twice to sell WCNX since 198but deals fell through. Andrewsen said the station is' obligated to keep on. "The station must and willtgerve all listeners and its greater Middle-town audience," Andrewsen'said. Dominican Republic.

He has denied any wrongdoing. If he is convicted on all the charges, Bloch faces more than 300 years in prison and more than $8 million in fines. Judge Allen G. Schwartz has ordered a freeze on all of Bloch's assets while the case is pending. Eskridge was ordered by Schwartz to basically run WCNX, the two radio stations in Florida and the Florida-based Independent Broadcasting network, which distributed Bloch's syndicated talk show.

Eskridge has a 25-year history in broadcasting. As president of NBC radio a decade ago, Eskridge oversaw three networks and eight radio stations. He oversaw NBC coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, and created the CNBC cable format in 1989. The cable network currently has more than 50 million subscribers. Reached at his New Jersey office Monday, Eskridge said he expects to serve as receiver for several months, but the exact time frame is still unclear.

He said it is too early to see what, if any, changes need to be made. "I just started," Eskridge said. "I ton said Fuller's filing does not qualify as a petition for a new trail, which is a civil, not criminal, matter. "The court has no jurisdiction to act on this motion," Liston said. Walsh reminded Fuller that when he pleaded guilty in December 1993 to charges that he robbed the Water's Edge Inn Resort in West-brook, burglarized a storage warehouse in Old Saybrook, and plotted to break the legs of a man in Essex, that he had done so "willfully and voluntarily." Walsh said Judge Patrick J.

Clifford could have accepted Fuller's pleas, which were made under the Alford doctrine, only if he found them to have been made under these conditions. The Alford doctrine allows a defendant not to admit guilt, but to concede that the prosecution probably has enough evidence for a conviction. Lawyer William G. Grady, who represented Fuller for the plea agreement, said Friday that Fuller readily went along with the agreement because, had he gone to trial By JOSEPH A. O'BRIEN JR.

Courant Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN A convicted felon's motion for a new trial didn't get very far Friday in Superior Court. Part of the problem with Peter Fuller motion, which he filed on his own behalf, was that to get a new trial he had to have had one already. Fuller, who is serving an 18-year prison sentence, however, got to prison not via trial but through a plea agreement reached in 1993 with Assistant State's Attorney Timothy J. Liston. In his motion, Fuller, formerly of Westbrook, argued that he should be granted a trial because he had "ineffective assistance by counsel" and that he had "new evidence" that could help his cause.

However, Judge John F. Walsh said he had little choice but to deny the motion, because legally he has no authority to act on it regardless of what Fuller claims. Arguing against the motion, Lis- WESTBROOK Officials to review new zoning plan By COLIN POITRAS Courant Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN A court-appointed receiver is visiting WCNX-AM 1150 today as the city radio station attempts to right itself after its prospective new owner was indicted on federal fraud charges. Michael Eskridge, a former president of NBC radio and founder of the CNBC cable television network, was appointed temporary receiver Friday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Eskridge replaces Irwin H. "Sonny" Bloch, the nationally syndicated financial guru and radio talk show host recently indicted on charges that he misled investors in the purchase of WCNX and two radio stations in Florida. A 35-count indictment unsealed two weeks ago accused Bloch of using his status as a financial consultant to swindle investors out of $21 million in various business deals. Four others were also named in the indictment, which was brought by the U.S. attorney's office.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has separate charges pending against Bloch. Bloch was arrested May 27 in the Essex news notes Portrait day to aid art association A portrait day at the Essex Art Association on June 17 will feature photographer and resident Maria Rooney, who will donate her time to help the fund-raising efforts for a new roof on the association gallery building. Portraits, which will be 5 by 7 inches, will cost $50. Rooney, who has exhibited her work in galleries for the past 20 years, specializes in black-and-white portraits and does her own custom printing. She has worked closely with her mother, Madeline L'Engle, and last year, the two did a children's book, "Anytime Prayers," illustrated by Rooney.

She is now collaborating on a book of photographs of mothers and daughters of all ages and backgrounds. To make an appointment for a photograph, call 767-8996 from 1 to 5 p.m. SEALY BEDDING LF.BCE Old Saybrook meetings Town Hall: 302 Main 395-3123. All meetings are at town hall unless otherwise noted. Public meetings today: Board of education, 7:30 p.m., board offices, 50 Sheffield St.

7a Old Saybrook senior meals Meals from Wednesday through June 13: Wednesday: Glazed ham steak, sweet potatoes, green beans, spiced apple Old Saybrook School trol as it develops." The new zoning proposals comes after a proposed commercial building moratorium was turned down by the zoning commission. The moratorium was designed by Marino, who feared that last year's approval of a huge outlet center would prompt other development in town. Zoning officials will have to call for a public hearing before any changes in the town's zoning scheme are adopted. Westbrook meetings Town Hall: 1163 Boston Post Road, 399-3044. All meetings are at town hall unless otherwise noted.

Public meetings today: Planning and zoning commission, 7 p.m., Daisy Ingraham School; inland-wetlands and watercourse commission, 7 p.m., Daisy Ingraham School; forest commission, 7:30 p.m.; library board of directors, 7:30 p.m., library. 1. i Ma! Mitsuhish The board of education is scheduled to meet at 7:30 p.ni. today at the board office, 50 Sheffield St. Items Decision on starting a pilot program for two of the six kindergarten sections in the fall that would offer two full days and one half-day of scho'ol each week instead of five half-days.

Continued information on the River School's summer program. Updates on current year's budget and the 1 995-96 spending plan Discussion of summer workshops for teachers and administrators! Review of summer calendars for board and subcommittee meetings. Ingraham School. The proposed neighborhood commercial district would require a combination of residential and commercial uses along Route 1, built in a style that looks like a small New England village. Zoning Enforcement Officer Elaine Bruckner said.

For instance, the proposed zone would encourage brick, stone and clapboard buildings, with stone walls or picket fences and a village atmosphere. That sort of development, which resembles a village center, isn't likely to be built under the area's current commercial zoning. It's feared that if the town's west end of Route 1 was developed to its fullest potential, the area would look like Old Saybrook's heavily commercial section of Route 1 between the bowling alley and Caldor, zoning commission Chairman Tony Marino said. "Boston Post Road is a fairly underdeveloped strip of land," Marino said. "We want to have some con UNTIL By TRACE THOMAS Courant Staff Writer WESTBROOK The east side of town would look like a small New England village, and not an endless strip of paved parking lots, if a new zoning proposal is enacted.

Zoning officials are drafting a new zone they plan to propose for Route 1 between the town center and the Old Saybrook line. The proposed zone, called a neighborhood commercial district, will go before land-use officials tonight. The goal of the new zone would be to allow the largely undeveloped Route 1 to look something like the Trolley Square development, a clapboard cluster of buildings with pitched roofs and dormers, zoning officials said. Tonight's session is a workshop meeting of the zoning commission, and will include members of the planning commission and the economic development commission, among others. The meeting is at 7 p.m.

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