Metro

NY judge who pulled gun in court claims he did so out of ‘fear’ of ‘large person’ rushing at him

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.”

Upstate Judge Robert Purtorti’s lawyer argued to an appeals court that he shouldn’t be removed from office for pulling a gun in court on a defendant. WRGB

Justice Shirley Troutman seemed to doubt the argument, asking Riley if his position was that “if your client or any judge in this state subjectively believes there is a fear, they may pull out a gun on litigants?”

Troutman and another justice on the panel, Rowan Wilson, repeatedly questioned Riley about whether Putorti showed a racial bias against the defendant in mentioning that he was black.

“What does the black add to the threat?” Wilson pressed.

But Riley maintained the adjective was only meant to describe the man and it didn’t show prejudice on Putorti’s part.

“He was accurately reflecting his race and his gender,” Riley said.

Putorti’s lawyer, Nate Riley, told the New York Court of Appeals justices that his client felt threatened when he pulled the gun. New York State Court of Appeals

The justices also expressed skepticism that keeping Putorti in his post wouldn’t hurt the public’s perception of the judiciary.

“How does this conduct impact the appearance of bias,” Troutman asked. “How does that affect his ability to go forward and be an impartial arbiter and for the public to have confidence in what he does?”

Justice Anthony Cannataro and Troutman both noted that there is a higher standard of conduct for judges than the average person.

Commission on Judicial Conduct lawyer Robert Tembeckjian said that Judge Putorti’s actions warranted removing him from the bench. New York State Court of Appeals

Riley said that the fact that Putorti was reelected after the incident was announced shows that “the public, at least within his community, does have confidence” in him.

CJC lawyer Robert Tembeckjian said that Putorti’s actions completely justified removing him from office.

“I’m unaware in my 40 years of doing this work that there has ever been a situation where a judge brandished a loaded weapon in the courtroom at a defendant under any circumstance, let alone one where he admits that it was without justification,” Tembeckjian said, emphasizing the seriousness of the case.

Purorti has been in office since 2014 and was reelected amid the misconduct allegations. Google Maps

Tembeckjian said if that weren’t enough, while Putorti was being investigated over the gun incident in January 2021 he allegedly brazenly went on to fundraise for the Elks Lodge, a fraternal order, on his Facebook at least seven times — breaking the rule of leveraging a judgeship to raise money.

Taken altogether, the facts reflect “a judge who reacts without thinking, who doesn’t have a real sense of decorum and doesn’t appreciate the ethical mandates that are imposed on him,” Tembeckjian said.

The judges will issue a ruling on the fate of Putorti’s career at a later date.