Buhl Harassment Trial Delayed by Ailing Judge

New Canaan resident Teri Buhl, who is accused of posting the personal journal entries of her then-boyfriend's teenage daughter online, made an appearance in Superior Court at Norwalk Monday morning where her trial was postponed until March 22 due to a judge's absence because of illness. 

Judge William Wenzel told Buhl and her attorney Frank DiScala that the case had to be postponed because he had to "cover multiple calendars" equaling about 90 cases due to Judge Maureen Dennis' absence.

DiScala told Judge Wenzel that while the date was convenient for counsel, it was inconvenient for Buhl because it was "inhibiting her from continuing her move out west."

In response to the new court date, Buhl told Judge Wenzel, "We're ready to go... I don't understand."

Buhl told the New Canaan Advertiser in November that she requested a bench trial because she felt "inaccurate reporting" by local media outlets would make it "too hard to pick a jury."

In June 2010, Buhl's boyfriend at the time, a New Canaan resident, and his then 17-year-old daughter, reported to New Canaan police that someone had gained access to the daughter's personal journal and posted excerpts on Facebook.

Containing sexually explicit information, accounts of underage drinking and other personal information, the entries were from a notebook, which father and daughter said she kept in the bedroom of their home.

As the investigation continued, according to an affidavit application filed with the court by Sgt. Carol Ogrinc of the New Canaan Police Department, the Facebook account creation and postings were traced to IP addresses associated with Buhl's Optonline Internet service subscriber account at home on Locust Avenue in New Canaan, as well as to a computer at New Canaan Library.

Buhl was charged with second-degree harassment, second-degree breach of peace and interfering with an officer, all misdemeanors.