Shot by Client's Husband Outside Courthouse, Lawyer Settles with City, Pursues $25M State Claim
Corrected: A matrimonial lawyer who was shot outside a Connecticut courthouse in 2005 by her client’s estranged husband as a divorce trial was in progress has settled her damages suit against the city of Middletown on undisclosed terms.
Court documents show the litigation was settled Jan. 9. Attorney Matthew Dallas Gordon, who represents Middletown, confirmed that suits by Julie Porzio and the estate of her client, Donna Bochicchio, were settled, but declined to provide any details, according to the Associated Press and the Hartford Courant.
Porzio’s $25 million claim against the state judicial branch is ongoing.
She was shot four times and seriously injured and her client was killed when retired state trooper Michael Bochicchio Jr. opened fire in the Middletown Superior Court parking lot on June 15, 2005. Bochicchio, who was armed with a .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol he had loaded with hollow-point bullets, subsequently committed suicide.
Porzio argued that the city failed to provide adequate security at the parking lot after prior altercations and should have sounded a warning about a need for more protection there.
Her lawyer also alleges that courthouse marshals never told Porzio or, apparently, the administrative judge that Bochicchio had six times tried to bring prohibited material, including a pocketknife and a gun, into the building.
Updated at 2:06 p.m. to correct the spelling of Middletown in all references.
