Attorney General
Says Shooting
Of Fortunati
Was Justified

By M. D. Drysdale

Orange County State's Attorney William Porter and Attorney General William Sorrell announced last Thursday that they have completed separate reviews of a police shooting incident that occurred on June 24 in Corinth.

Both offices concluded, as a matter of law, that Vermont State Police Officers Sgt. Marc Thomas and Sr. Tpr. Andrew Campagne were legally justified in the use of deadly force against Joseph Fortunati, who died as a result of the shooting.

Fortunati, who was mentally ill, had erected a tent in a remote section of Corinth and had threatened his family with a gun when they tried to convince him to move to nearby property owned by the family.

Police fired fatal shots at Fortunati when he refused to surrender to them and drew a gun, which was found to be loaded. They were attempting to circle him, to establish a secure circumference, when the shooting occurred.

Fortunati's father Robert, distraught, arrived at the scene soon afterwards and refused to stop when police told him to. He was later charged with negligent and careless operation of a motor vehicle and resisting arrest. Those charges were dropped recently by Porter's office.

According to a press release from Sorrell and Porter, the legal standard for the use of deadly force is "whether the officers reasonably believed that they or a third party were in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury, and that deadly force was necessary to respond to that threat."

Won't Comment

Neither Sorrell nor Porter would comment on whether the police procedures used during the confrontation were appropriate or whether different tactics would have produced a better outcome.

Those questions wil be studied by state police, Sorrell said, and if changes are warranted, they will be incorporated into the Police Academy training.

Department lawyers have specifically advised him, Sorrell said, that his reports should not go beyond the question of whether the shootings are legal. Further findings about police procedures would complicate any future lawsuits, he pointed out. This is especially true in state police cases, since the attorney general's office would legally represent the police in court, he pointed out.

In the Fortunati case, the likelihood of a civil lawsuit is considerable, since Robert Fortunati continues to be upset at how police handled the standoff and has hired an attorney, George K. Spaneas of Hanover.

Sorrell said he had recently arranged for a $50,000 appropriation for state police to modernize their training and to disseminate it to veteran officers.

State's Atty. Porter stated flatly this week that "I don't review police procedures.

"I'm not traned in the field," he said. "I don't have the vaguest idea of what should or should not happen."

"What happens in the field is almost always impossible to control," Porter said. "It's a lot different than being in an office." He said that explanations given at a news conference last week by Col. James Baker, director of the state police, satisfied him that the procedures used "make sense."

Asked about the charges he filed against Robert Fortunati, the state's attorney said that from the beginning he had offered to refer those charges to Court Diversion. Such cases leave the criminal system and leave no criminal record, as a civilian board discusses the case with the defendant and recommends actions.

Porter said that he had hoped the Diversion system would have given Robert Fortunati a new perspective on events, helping him to see that his presence at the scene was making the situation more dangerous.

Fortunati, however, declined to go through Diversion. At that point, Porter said, he decided to drop the charges against him because "I didn't want to put this guy through a trial." He said the anger Fortunati had displayed at the scene was "very understandable."

"I reject that explanation," Atty. Spaneas, Fortunati's lawyer, told The Herald this week. He said he had never heard of the idea of filing criminal charges in order to "help" them through the Diversion program.

"It's just nonsense to me," he commented.

He and his client still are attempting to force the attorney general's office to turn over documents related to the incident, he said. There is no longer any reason that any of that information should still be protected, he said.

He asked for some 17 items, including video and audio tapes made at the scene of the shooting or recordings of witnesses or family memters.

"The Fortunatis have lost their son and should be able to look at the files to see what happened," he said.

Atty. Spaneas said that if the records are not voluntarily released, Fortunati will likely either ask the court directly as a citizen for access to the records, or he will seek them as relating to a civil lawsuit.

Add shooting report.