NORWALK -- The case against town resident Kate H. Regan, accused of striking and killing a man with her SUV, will resume in June now that an accident investigation report by the state police has been completed.
In state Superior Court in Norwalk Friday, her attorney, John R. Gulash Jr., said the report had recently become available, and he needed time to review it. Judge Bruce P. Hudock set June 13 as the continuance date.
Outside the courtroom, Gulash said he has all of the information New Canaan Police prepared concerning the accident, which occurred last August 18 on Oenoke Ridge.
Regan, 32, is with negligent homicide with a motor vehicle and evading responsibility for allegedly striking 82-year-old Krishna S. Jayaraman as he was collecting mail from a curbside mailbox in front of his home.
Police say Regan continued driving her Infiniti QX56 while Jayaraman fell to the ground with multiple severe injuries. He later died in Norwalk Hospital.
Police also allege that shortly after the accident, Regan stopped at a gas station about a half-mile from the accident scene in Pound Ridge, N.Y., to ask about having her passenger side mirror repaired. Police believe it was torn loose from the door when it struck Jayaraman.
Following her arrest by warrant Nov. 3 arrest, Regan was released after posting a $10,000 cash bond.
The state police Western District Major Crime Squad assisted New Canaan police in gathering from the scene. A state lab report said "tissue-like material" and DNA samples were collected from the mirror assembly and the right front headlight and fender of Regan's SUV.
Based on DNA testing, the report said, "there is a less than a 1 in 7 billion chance in the African American, Caucasian, and Hispanic populations that someone other than Jayaraman is the source of the DNA for all of the above samples."
New Canaan Police said when a detective first contacted Regan about the accident, she told him her vehicle was damaged somewhere in New Canaan while it was parked and she ran errands. She allegedly said she did not discover any damage until she got home and parked in the driveway.
Last Aug. 24, Gulash faxed a copy of a statement from Regan to New Canaan Police that said, "based upon the damage that I observed on my car and what I have since learned, I now realize that the vehicle that I was driving struck (Jayaraman).
Negligent homicide with a motor vehicle and evading responsibility in an accident involving serious injury or death are motor vehicle violations in Connecticut. Eis the more serious charge, with Regan facing a fine of up to $10,000 and ten years in jail.
Regan and her husband, Michael Regan, are being sued for $2.5 million by Jayaraman's son, also named Krishna S. Jayaraman, for his father's death.
