Connecticut Courts Destroy Another Family

Dr. Luigi DiRubba says he no longer has any contact with his six children.

Dr. Luigi DiRubba

Dr. Luigi DiRubba was living the American dream.

He had six children, a thriving business, and he was worth millions.

After approximately six years in the Connecticut family court system, most of it is gone.

He told me he was worth approximately $4 million when it started, and all that’s left is his chiropractor business.

Worse than that, he no longer has any contact with any of his six children.

All of it, he told me, was due to the rulings in court.

Not only did he have to pay exorbitant legal fees to his own lawyers, but he was regularly ordered to pay his ex-wife’s legal fees, along with all fees for numerous third parties appointed by the court.

The judge who made most of these decisions is James Kenefick. Here is part of Judge Kenefick's decision.

Judge Kenefick is noteworthy because he is retired and serves as a referee, or junior judge.

He presided over the trial and he wrote the memorandum of decision.

It is appropriate, the Connecticut courts told me, for a junior judge in that state to take total control of a divorce.

“I would refer you to Section 26-53 of the Connecticut Practice Book that says, ‘In any family matter, the court may, upon its own motion or upon motion of a party, refer any contested, limited contested, or uncontested matter for hearing and decision to a judge who shall have been a judge of the referring court. Such matters shall be deemed to have been referred for all further proceedings and judgment, including matters pertaining to any appeal therefore, except that the referring court may retain jurisdiction to hear and decide any pendente lite or contempt matters.” A statement provided by the Connecticut courts noted.

Even worse, Dr. DiRubba told me his own lawyers had a conflict and worked against him and behalf of another client.

Dr. DiRubba believed his ex-wife, Anna Maria, was cheating on him and a private investigator proved it.

That proof never made it to court because her paramour was also their client. Below is part of Dr. DiRubba’s complaint against his attorneys.

I reached out to the two attorneys- Anothony Solomine and Jeff Cohen- involved but neither responded to my email.

Meanwhile, Dr. DiRubba, who never before had any problems with the law, has been the subject of numerous arrests and restraining orders.

On February 5, 2016, Dr. DiRubba was visited at his home by police, accused of physically abusing his wife.

He was escorted out of his home and arrested.

Though the charges were eventually deemed to be meritless, the arrest was used to get a restraining order and his ex-wife got possession of the home and children.

This tactic is derisively known as the silver bullet technique and I previously described its use when covering both Neil Shelton's and Daniel Greenberg's cases.

As the old saying goes, ‘possession is nine tenth of the law’ and once his ex-wife possessed the house and kids, she kept both permanently.

Dr. DiRubba told me he never saw the inside of his home again and he hasn’t seen some of his six children for as long as six years.

I reached out to Anna Maria's attorney, Marianne Charles, by email but she did not respond.

Finally, this case has two familiar names: Janis LaLiberte and Dr. Robert Horowitz.

They are familiar because both popped up in Joriz Tiberi's divorce, where there was as much corruption.

Not surprisingly, Dr. Horowitz, Dr. DiRubba told me, was brought in on the recommendation of Janis Laliberte.

I reached out to both Dr. Horowitz and Janis LaLiberte and neither responded to my emails.

Check out the interview Dr. DiRubba did with Frank Parlato.

Post Script

Check out the previous articles in the series on Connecticut courts: article one, article two, article three, and article four.

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