Norm Pattis has defended capital felonies, murders, sexual assaults, crimes against children, bank robberies, armed robberies, violent assaults, white collar crimes, and a wide variety of misdemeanors in state and federal courts. He has twice appeared before federal prosecutors evaluating whether to seek the death penalty for one of his clients. In a state case, a man facing death was offered a ten-year sentence after three days of jury selection. In addition to his work in the criminal courts, Pattis has won multimillion dollar judgments in federal civil rights actions, and has won dozens of federal civil rights verdicts. He doesn't just go to court, he wins!
In addition to his trial work, he argues regularly in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Connecticut Appellate Courts.
Notable civil rights cases have included Kevin King v. Mark Verdone, et al., in which he obtained a judgment of more than $2 million for a prisoner beaten during an escape attempt; Peterson, et al. v. City of Hartford, in which nine white and Hispanic firefighters won a $3.1 million reverse discrimination verdict against the city's fire department; Broadnax v. New Haven, in which he won a $1.5 million verdict on behalf of the city's highest ranking female firefighter. His defense of that case in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit created new law on mitigation of damages. In Higgins v. Burleigh, et al., Pattis won a $700,000 verdict for a young boxer beaten by police officers outside a nightclub. He recently obtained a $600,000 verdict in a First Amendment case for a Hartford police officer who was the subject of retaliation by his chief. The plaintiff had cooperated with federal prosecutors investigating corruption in the Hartford Police Department.
Pattis has also won verdicts in federal civil rights verdicts for police brutality, false arrest, malicious prosecution, denial of equal protection of the law, discrimination, and other civil rights. He once tracked down the financier of a brutal contract shooting, forcing a settlement after the man filed bankruptcy to avoid the civil trial, and after several days of cross-examination of the financier and his ex-wife, designed to show that their "divorce" was little more than a fraudulent conveyance.
Pattis has also represented those accused of crimes in state and federal courts. He obtained an acquittal on two counts of attempted murder of police officers arising from the point-blank shooting of two Middletown officers during an arrest. He also won an acquittal for a man accused of felony murder in the course of a high-speed chase in which a police officer died. In another case, he won acquittals for two men accused of beating several police officers. He has successfully defended weapons charges, narcotics charges, cases alleging sexual assault, bank robbery and embezzlement. He recently won an acquittal of federal fraud charges on behalf of a union steward who was accused of helping his wife fraudulently obtain federal benefits. In a recent case, Pattis successfully defended a lawyer accused of assaulting a police office during a videotaped deposition, a verdict that left prosecutors puzzled.
In addition to his work on jury trials, Pattis represents lawyers facing professional discipline and has represented students and physicians in training at Yale University.
He has defended capital cases on both the trial and appellate level. His defense of Lon Grammer and Tonica Jenkins, both accused of fraudulently obtaining admission to Yale University in separate incidents, attracted national attention.
Pattis has argued in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second and Sixth Circuits, and appeared before the United States Supreme Court in prisoner's rights litigation.
Representative Cases in Greater Detail:
State v. Sawyer, in which the state Supreme Court reversed the conviction of a man serving a twelve year sentence for sexual assault. The Supreme Court reversed not just the trial court, but also the Appellate Court, which had upheld the improper conviction.
Kevin King v. Mark Verdone, et al., in which he obtained a judgment of more than $2 million for a prisoner beaten during an escape attempt. Mr. King was convicted of a capital felony for the murder of his girlfriend. He escaped a sentence of death, but was sentenced to life behind bars. On the eve of his transfer to a supermax facility, he tried to escape, abducting a guard, and donning her uniform in an effort to walk out the prison door to freedom. Guards spotted him and, once he was subdued, beat him. A jury found in favor of King in response to an argument that no person is the sum of his worst moments and that the guards had taken the law into their own hands. The Hartford Courant's Northeast Magazine featured the case, calling Pattis' work "brilliant" and "audacious."
Peterson, et al. v. City of Hartford, in which nine white and Hispanic firefighters won a $3.1 million reverse discrimination verdict against the city's fire department. The City of Hartford manipulated its eligibility list for promotions in such a manner as to refuse to reach white and Hispanic candidates from promotion. At trial, the jury was asked to make Martin Luther King's dream of a color blind society a reality and to award a small fortune to the plaintiffs as a means of signaling intolerance for classifying people based on mere accidents of birth.
Broadnax v. New Haven, in which he won a $1.5 million verdict on behalf of the city's highest ranking black female firefighter. His defense of that case in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit created new law on mitigation of damages. Ms. Broadnax was hounded out of the department when she bumped up against the smoked glass ceiling barring promotion of females. In an exceptionally bitter trial, jurors learned what it was like to be a black woman with ambition left to fend for herself in a sea of hostility.
In Higgins v. Burleigh, et al., Pattis won a $700,000 verdict for a young boxer beaten by police officers outside a nightclub. Mr. Higgins was a promising young boxer, a Golden Gloves champion invited to work out with the U.S. Olympic Team. His dreams were shattered one night by the nightstick of an officer who struck him in the head as he sat handcuffed in the street. Higgins, the son of a police officer, suffered a minor permanent brain injury that put him at risk of dying were he to box again.
In Russo v. City of Hartford, Pattis obtained a $600,000 verdict in a First Amendment case for a Hartford police officer who was the subject of retaliation by his chief. The plaintiff had cooperated with federal prosecutors investigating corruption in the Hartford Police Department. Among other things, Russo told federal officials what he had heard the role of fellow officers in the murder of a homeless man, and about the planting of evidence on innocent people. Although he was fired for abusing prescription medicine, the jury concluded that the firing was in part based on Mr. Russo's speaking out about police corruption. One of the top federal prosecutors in Connecticut testified on Mr. Russo's behalf.
In State v. Browne, Mr. Pattis won an acquittal of a charge of felony murder in a widely publicized case involving the death of Sgt. George Dingwall, a Middletown Police Officer. Dingwall's cruiser spun out of control during a chase of Browne, resulting in Dingwall's death. Pattis' cross examination of a Goodyear Tire representative helped persuade the jury that Mr. Browne did not cause the death of Sgt. Dingwall; rather, mismatched tires on the police cruiser were to blame. Mr. Dingwall's estate later settled a wrongful death claim against the city based on the mismatched tires.
In State v. Ortiz, Pattis was lead counsel in securing the acquittal of Mr. Ortiz of two counts of attempted murder of two Middletown Police Officers. Ortiz, shot the officers point blank one night when officers tried to arrest him. The defense argued the shootings were in self-defense and that the officers, who had laid in wait for Ortiz, who was a suspect in the murder of a witness, in a dark, wooded area, did not identify themselves before leaping from hiding places to attempt to take him into custody.
In State v. Brewer, Pattis obtained an acquittal for assault on a peace officer and interfering with a police officer on behalf of a lawyer who was videotaped engaged in an altercation with an officer during a deposition.
In USA v. Clarke, Pattis won an acquittal for a federal postal worker accused of conspiracy and aiding and abetting his wife in wire and mail fraud. His wife, who was convicted of wire and mail fraud, was videotaped by federal officials engaged in physical work doctors thought inconsistent with her claimed injury. Mr. Clarke, a union steward, had helped his wife obtain the benefits.
