New Haven's Prosecutor Patrick Griffin Named Chief State's Attorney

NEW HAVEN, CT —Soon to be former New Haven state’s attorney Patrick Griffin was appointed by the Criminal Justice Commission Thursday to the role as Connecticut's chief state’s attorney after a hearing televised on the Connecticut Network.

Griffin will replace disgraced former top state prosecutor Richard Colangelo Jr. who in March retired from his post rather than face investigation into a controversial hiring. Gov. Ned Lamont said earlier this year that he would have fired Colangelo for "malfeasance."

“When it comes to Colangelo, I don’t hire him. I don’t fire him. But if I did, he’d be gone," Lamont said during a February news conference.

Griffin, who has served as State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of New Haven since 2015 was appointed Chief State’s Attorney by a unanimous vote of the Commission at a public meeting held Thursday at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.

"The Commission congratulates Patrick Griffin on his appointment as Chief State’s Attorney and we wish him the very best in this important position,” Andrew J. McDonald, Chair of the Criminal Justice Commission, said in a news release.

McDonald referred to the post as a "thankless job."

Griffin will serve the remainder of the five-year term to which Colangelo was reappointed. That term expires on June 30, 2026.

As Chief State's Attorney, Griffin is the administrative head of the Division of Criminal Justice, the independent agency of the executive branch of state government that is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of all criminal matters in the state.

Griffin has been a prosecuting attorney with the Division of Criminal Justice for more than 25 years. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Bonaventure University in New York and his law degree from Creighton University School of Law in Nebraska.

As the New Haven State’s Attorney, Griffin was the chief law enforcement officer for the Judicial District of New Haven, which includes the city of New Haven and twelve surrounding communities. Before serving in New Haven, Attorney Griffin previously worked at the Waterbury State’s Attorney’s Office from 1996 through 2011, the last approximately eight years of which he spent in the Part A court where he successfully tried numerous felony cases to verdict.

In 2013, Attorney Griffin was promoted to Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney in charge of the Cold Case & Shooting Task Force Bureau at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney. As the supervising prosecutor, he oversaw a combined staff of prosecutors, inspectors, federal agents, municipal police detectives and Connecticut Department of Correction personnel. Their role is to investigate and prosecute unsolved violent crimes throughout the state. Griffin also oversaw the staffing of both the New Haven and Hartford shooting task forces.

In 2014, Griffin was designated as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut and tasked with the investigation and prosecution of cold case homicides in federal court.

In 2015, Attorney Griffin received the Oliver Ellsworth Connecticut Prosecutor of the Year award.
Established under Article XXIII of the Connecticut Constitution, the Criminal Justice Commission is responsible for the appointment of all state prosecutors in Connecticut.