Rick Green: Another Grubby Tale From Probate Court

Shortly before 92-year-old Josephine Smoron died last June, Southington Probate Judge Bryan F. Meccariello approved a dramatic change to her will, handing her property to three local churches and bypassing her longtime caretaker.

Sam Manzo, caretaker for nearly 25 years at the sprawling Valley Spring Farm bordering I-84 not far from Queen Street, had been due to inherit what was left of the broken-down estate, valued at well over $1 million.

Instead, he was disinherited, replaced by two trusts.

Manzo, however, fought back, hiring a lawyer and filing an official complaint. The result was similar to what happens when you flip on the lights in a filthy kitchen. The roaches scatter.

Last week, I sat in Meccariello's courtroom and again watched what unfolds when the outside world peers into probate. Meccariello abruptly recused himself from the long-running Smoron saga, just days after denying a request by Manzo's lawyer to remove himself and seven months after Manzo's lawyer began challenging the judge's actions.

The Manzo odyssey is another grubby tale from our probate court system, which continues to operate within its own unique orbit. It's why probate should be part of Superior Court. It's why judges should be carefully appointed, not elected, and why misdeeds lurk in probate's dark corners.

This is not Judge Meccariello's first brush with questionable behavior. In 2007, he was admonished for co-mingling his roles as judge, private lawyer and real estate investor in a series of complicated land deals.

"I'm very upset. I have spoken to counsel regarding what my rights are," Meccariello told me. "Getting caught up in this claim of corruption, that's what bothers me the most."

The Smoron story raises additional troubling questions, not just about Meccariello, but why this court system survives while continuing to trample the rights of people it is supposed to serve.

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Inheritance Case: Another Grubby Tale From Probate Court