Reporter charged over alleged scuffle with state official

CONNECTICUT–A reporter for the Hartford Courant pleaded not guilty in early August in Hartford Superior Court to charges of breaching the peace.

Reporter Matthew Daly, who works in the paper’s capitol bureau, was arrested in mid-June after allegedly entering a commission director’s office without permission.

Daly has been writing articles about ethics investigations and conflict of interest charges involving Louis Martin, director of the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, and his private consulting firm.

After being asked for an interview and responding “no comment,” Martin said Daly pushed him with the office door which hit Martin’s head and back, nearly knocking him down, according to the police report.

Martin said Daly then followed him into his office and asked him a question, at which time Martin asked his assistant to call the police.

Daly and the Courant’s editor called the charges “baseless.” A court date had not been set as of mid-August. (Connecticut v. Daly)