I saw this story this story this morning, and, while I remember the original 2021 incident, I never learned its outcome. Now that I have, I’m shocked that his claim of self-defense was rejected by a jury. Assaulted and yanked out of his car by a drunken, angry man shouting “you ruined my life, I’m going to kill you”, the elderly lawyer pulled his gun and shot the stranger dead. So what’s wrong with that?
While his appeal has been successful, the verdict was overturned on what was essentially procedural grounds, leaving him still in prison, and the state free to try him again. I don’t like it.
An appeals court on Friday threw out the manslaughter conviction of Robert Fisher, a former Litchfield attorney, ruling that the judge overseeing the trial erred by failing to disclose he applied to serve as the Inspector General.
The position is under the Division of Criminal Justice, the same state agency that was prosecuting Fisher through the state’s attorney’s office.
The judge's application for the position while presiding over the trial "created an appearance of a lack of impartiality," the opinion said. It said the judge, Eliot D. Prescott, should have either disqualified himself, or "disclosed his application to the parties and obtained their waiver prior to proceeding with the trial."
The appeals court opinion reversed Fisher's conviction and remanded the case for a new trial.
Attorney Jon Schoenhorn, who represented Fisher in his appeal, said he intends to file a motion asking a judge in Torrington to release Fisher on conditions.
“He’s over 80 years old now, he’s in very poor health," Schoenhorn said Friday. "I think justice calls for his immediate release while the future appellate proceedings play out."
He said the case could take months or even a year of additional litigation, and noted the state also has the right to bring a new trial.
Prescott was appointed to a four-year term as inspector general last year. His office is responsible for investigating police shootings and in-custody deaths, and can bring criminal charges if they're determined to be warranted.
Here’s the report on the 2025 conviction:
TORRINGTON — A jury on Friday found 78-year-old attorney Robert Fisher Jr. guilty of manslaughter in a fatal shooting outside the lawyer's Litchfield office four years ago.
Three hours after starting deliberations, the jury of six's guilty verdict was delivered at approximately 4:30 p.m.
The jury heard four days of evidence in Superior Court, then closing arguments from attorneys and instructions from Judge Eliot D. Prescott Friday morning that focused on whether deadly force was a justifiable outcome.
….. Litchfield County State’s Attorney David Shannon showed the Ruger pistol, its firing mechanism locked, to jurors during his closing argument.
“He had a duty to retreat,” Shannon said. “Was this degree of deadly force necessary to avoid physical injury?”
Shannon demonstrated Fisher’s act of pulling the pistol, within a small holster, from his pocket. Instead of firing through the holster in a panic, Shannon said, Fisher took the time to remove it, then aimed a red dot laser beam at Matthew Bromley, 39. The dot showed the shooter where the shot would end up as the gun was ready to be fired.
The single shot ultimately lodged near Bromley’s left eye, killing him almost instantly.
“If he could have retreated without injury, he had a duty to do that,” Shannon said. “He brandished a weapon when all he had was a fat lip. It was about anger and pride, his desire for payback and refusing to be a victim. How dare this little man assault him in his parking lot.”
The state and defense agreed that still unexplained motives on that afternoon of June 7, 2021, began when Bromley followed, then pulled alongside Fisher’s car outside his Litchfield law firm. The 111-pound younger man reportedly began throwing punches and spit at Fisher, claimed Fisher had ruined his life, hurled expletives and said he was about to kill Fisher.
Shannon claims Fisher had an opportunity to retreat as — according to one eyewitness — the confrontation seemed briefly over before reigniting at the back of Fisher’s car. Defense attorney William A. Conti claims his frail client did not have that opportunity within the minute-long confrontation.
“You can’t bring a gun to a fistfight,” Shannon said.
[I’ll point out that Fisher didn’t bring a gun to fistfight, his assailant brough the fight to him — Ed]
[His defense lawyer] Conti countered that Fisher could not run or retreat to his car due to a variety of medical ailments, a claim substantiated by his doctor. Fisher feared for his life, was told he was about to die and believed it, Conti said.
“He could not drive away, couldn’t close the door, because Mr. Bromley was there,” Conti said. “Retreat, by state statute, must be in complete safety.”
Conti reminded the jury of evidence he presented that painted a fluid scene, first of Fisher being pulled from the Audi as he began to exit it. They never separated, Conti said. Bromley was angry, aggressive and out of control, he said. His blood alcohol level was 0.11, over the legal limit of .08, which could have fueled the aggression.
“There was no way he could get away from him,” Conti said. “Mr. Fisher was pushing him back. ... He had seconds to decide how to save his life.”
Prescott explained the only charge jurors must consider — manslaughter in the first degree. He instructed the three female and three male jurors to set aside sympathy or concerns about possible punishment during their deliberations.
“A person is justified in using reasonable physical force to defend himself from what he believes to be imminent physical force,” Prescott said. He asked jurors to consider what a reasonable person in the circumstances described would have the same beliefs as Fisher did, and to know that self-defense is defensive and not retaliatory.
Friday marked the fifth consecutive day of the trial at state Superior Court in Torrington. Fisher was convicted of manslaughter with intent, a downgraded offense after he initially was charged with first-degree manslaughter in the shooting.
Testimony involved forensic experts, police officers and other attorneys who have known Fisher for years. Fisher also took the stand in his own defense.
“I started to open the door, he grabbed the door or the window and pulled it open all the way,” Fisher testified Tuesday. “He reached in and punched me in the side of the face on the left side of my jaw. He yelled 'You are a (expletive) and (expletive) and you ruined my life. I am going to kill you.' Then he spit in my face.”
Fisher continued: “I was in fear. He was so impossibly angry his face was contorted with rage. I have never seen anything like it. I undid my seat belt and kicked him so he would be farther away. … I got out of the car to face him. … He charged me in the chest. He was shouting. 'I am going to kill you.'”
WTF?
