NY judge who pulled gun in court claims he did so out of ‘fear’ of ‘large person’ rushing at himBy Priscilla DeGregory
Published Sep. 12, 2023
An upstate New York judge who pulled a loaded handgun on a defendant only did so out of “fear” when the “large person” came at him in court, his attorney claimed Tuesday – while arguing the jurist shouldn’t lose his position over the disturbing incident.
Robert J. Putorti, a judge in Whitehall courts since 2014, was accused by a watchdog group last year of bragging about the 2015 incident several times and recounting how a “large black man” had charged toward him.
The Commission on Judicial Conduct, which brought the case, asked New York’s highest court to remove Putorti from office, saying the jurist had pointed the semi-automatic handgun at a defendant who posed no threat to him.
But Putorti’s lawyer, Nate Riley, told a panel of judges in New York’s Court of Appeals that his client was truly scared when he pulled the gun, whether it was justified fear or not.
“He has this large person that’s rushing toward the bench,” Riley said during the hearing Tuesday.
“He did have a subjective fear of the individual rushing toward the bench.”
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/09/12/ny-judge-who-pulled-gun-in-court-shouldnt-lose-job-lawyer/
