Kate Regan walked into a near-empty courtroom in Norwalk on Wednesday afternoon, flanked by her husband, Michael, and attorney, John Gulash, Jr.
Charged with evading responsibility and negligent homicide in the hit-and-run death of 82-year-old Krishna S. Jayaraman on Aug. 18, 2010, Regan appeared anxious as she awaited the decision on how her case would proceed.
"She's holding up. I think it's very difficult," Gulash told Patch. "She has a good close family that is certainly a big support for her but it's certainly difficult. And I imagine it's incredibly difficult for the family of the deceased as well."
After months of postponements and rescheduling, Judge Bruce Hudock put the case on the trial list and set March 20 as the date for a status conference.
"It's on the trial list but it's more a matter of checking the status of the case," Gulash told Patch. "We'll have a better idea as to what cases are ahead of us and what the projected time period would be for the start of a trial."
Between now and March 20, Regan's defense team and prosecutors of the case can still try to work out some sort of agreement.
"I think all the parties would continue to prepare their cases, and the court would always encourgage all the parties to continue to discuss the case to see if the matter could be resolved," Gulash said.
For a case that began with the arrest of Regan in November 2010, the pace of the legal process may seem slow but, according to Gulash, it's not out of the ordinary.
"It's the same as any case. It just works its way through the process and that's all that's happening in this case," he said. "There's the discovery phase, the pre-trial phase. It's being treated the same way as any other case is."
Regan, who has given birth to her second child since the arrest, faces up to 10 years in jail if found guilty. The Regans are also the subject of a civil suit. That suit is pending. According to the Connecticut Department of Justice, an order for an extension of discovery was granted Feb. 2 by Judge Douglas Mintz in state Superior Court in Stamford.
