John A. Speziale

John A. Speziale was born on 21 November 1922 in Winsted, Connecticut. He was the son of Louis and Mary Speziale, Sicilian immigrants. He graduated from Torrington High School in 1940 and received a B.A. in economics from Duke University in 1943, followed by a J.D. from Duke University School of Law in 1947. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Theater. He was a clerk for the General Assembly's Judiciary Committee in 1949 and was elected state treasurer in 1958.

In the mid-1970s, he served as the chief administrator of the state court system and pushed through a radical redesign of the judicial department, merging what were then the state's Common Pleas and Superior courts and establishing the foundation for the state's intermediate Appellate Court

Speziale presided over Peter A. Reilly's murder trial, who was convicted of manslaughter, then was later proven to have been wrongfully convicted of killing his mother, Barbara Gibbons. Speziale took the unusual step of setting aside the guilty verdict and ordering a new trial. A year later, Speziale appointed a fellow state judge to act as a one-man grand juror and investigate possible crimes associated with Reilly's arrest and prosecution.

In 1961, nominated by Gov. John Dempsey, Speziale was appointed to the Court of Common Pleas. He was elevated to the Superior Court in 1965. He was appointed both chief judge of the Superior Court and chief court administrator in 1975. Gov. Ella T. Grasso named Speziale to the state Supreme Court in 1977. Gov. William A. O'Neill appointed him chief justice in 1981.

He died on 3 January 2005 in Torrington, Connecticut.

Source: Mahony, E. H., & Courant, S. W. (2005, Jan 04). EX-CHIEF JUSTICE SPEZIALE DIES ; JURIST RE-OPENED REILLY MURDER CASE, STREAMLINED COURTS: [5 NORTHWEST CONNECTICUT/SPORTS FINAL EDITION]. Hartford Courant Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/ex-chief-justice-speziale-dies-jurist-re-opened/docview/256843128/se-2