Former State Trooper Maintains Innocence While Pleading Guilty to Stealing Cash, Jewelry From Dying Motorist

Aaron Huntsman, a former*
Connecticut state trooper plead guilty to charges of larceny
related to getting caught on his own dash cam video stealing cash
and a gold crucifix from a motorcyclist involved in a fatal
accident.
Via the Connecticut Post:

Huntsman, who was the first trooper at the crash scene, walked
over to where [John] Scalesse lay, bent down and picked up
Scalesse’s gold chain from a pool of blood, according to the arrest
warrant affidavit. He then took a roll of bills – $3,700 – that had
been in Scalesse’s pocket. Later, Huntsman told Scalesse’s grieving
father that he didn’t see any money on the victim, the affidavit
states.

The cash was later found held with a rubber band under the front
seat of Huntsman’s cruiser. State Police said Huntsman has
maintained his innocence even after he was shown a video of him
taking the money that was captured on the dash camera of his own
police car.

Huntsman pleaded guilty under the “Alford Doctrine,” based on a
1970 Supreme Court case, North Carolina v. Alford, where a
defendant in a capital crime argued he only pled guilty to avoid an
automatic death penalty. It is a guilty plea wherein the defendant
maintains his innocence.  Coupled with the Connecticut
Post and
other outlets describing Huntsman as a “state trooper,” the
conditions of the plea brought up the question of whether it was an
attempt to keep some kinds of benefits. After all, he wasn’t even
being described as a former state trooper and I couldn’t find any
news articles that talked about his suspension.

*I reached out to the Connecticut Department of Public Safety
(DPS) last week about Huntsman’s employment status, and received a
response today attributed only to the Connecticut Department of
Emergency Services and Public Protection that “Aaron Huntsman has
resigned. He has no state benefits or state pension and no further
connection with the CT State Police.” I’ve asked for details on
when Huntsman resigned and whether he would be in any way precluded
by DPS from future employment with them of local police departments
in Connecticut and will update this post with a response if one is
forthcoming.