Allegheny County assistant district attorney dies after battle with covid-19

An Allegheny County prosecutor who believed he had contracted covid-19 while working at the courthouse in late June has died.

Russ Broman, 65, of Upper St. Clair had been hospitalized since July and on a ventilator for the last several days. He died Tuesday, according to Mike Manko, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office.

Kevin McCarthy, the bargaining unit president of the United Steelworkers local union, which represents assistant district attorneys and public defenders, said Broman’s blood lacked enough oxygen for him to survive.

“Russ was a tremendous colleague and friend, always quick to lend a hand or mentor young attorneys,” McCarthy said.

Broman was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1985 and began working at the district attorney’s office as a prosecutor in March 1986. He was most recently assigned to the violent crimes firearms unit and previously worked in post-conviction and with the grand jury.

“He taught me how to try a case,” said defense lawyer Thomas N. Farrell, who worked under Broman beginning in the late 1980s. “He was one of the staples in the DA’s office that they needed.”

Manko praised Broman for his work mentoring young prosecutors.

“Special Assistant District Attorney Russ Broman was a blue-collar, roll-up-your-shirt-sleeves prosecutor who relished working in the service of the residents of Allegheny County and the citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” he said. “Being a prosecutor isn’t easy and it’s oftentimes hard to separate your personal feelings from the emotions of the job. Russ was always able to walk that line while being incredibly passionate about keeping our community safe, especially from those who choose to harm others through the illegal use of firearms and the trafficking and sale of narcotics.

“As with any workplace, the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office is a family, and this day is especially painful for our family.”

Broman believed that he contracted the coronavirus at work from his colleague, Assistant District Attorney Ted Dutkowski, who continues to recover after he was hospitalized for 11 days.

Both Dutkowksi and Broman — through his wife, Beverly — filed for workers’ compensation after they contracted the disease, but their claims were denied by the county’s plan administrator.

After news that three prosecutors had contracted the virus, courthouse staffers and some members of the defense bar pressured court administration for more transparency and fewer courtroom appearances.

On July 7, President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark issued an order requiring the criminal division to move to videoconferencing for as many hearings as possible.

Pam Farrell, a legal secretary in the courthouse, knew Broman for 25 years. She described him as sarcastic and funny.

“I am heartbroken that this happened this way,” she said.

Judge Clark issued a statement Tuesday afternoon.

“On behalf of the Court, we are saddened by the passing of Assistant District Attorney Russ Broman, who dedicated his career to public service. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family,” Clark said.

Judge Edward J. Borkowski graduated from Duquesne University Law School with Broman and worked for years with him in the DA’s office. He called him a talented and “thoroughly committed career prosecutor,” and a “colorful character in the courthouse.”

“Russ was an excellent litigator who had a keen legal mind, and who over the years handled almost every type of case that a prosecutor could handle,” Borkowski said. “He most recently had a nine co-defendant case in my courtroom.”

Borkowski said Broman loved his work and was proud of it.

“It showed in his enthusiasm, preparation and presentation.”

Bob Heister, who retired as an assistant district attorney in 2018, started in the office the same day as Broman.

He called him a “damn fine attorney who rolled with the punches.”

Heister also described Broman as having “a sense of humor so dry you could blow the dust off it.”

Assistant District Attorney Jarrod Caruso met Broman in 1997 when he began working as an intern in the office.

“He was very eager to teach. He wanted to mentor,” Caruso said.

For more than a dozen years, he and Broman worked in the violent crimes unit together.

“We joked that he was my work dad,” Caruso said.

He described Broman as kind and caring with a gruff exterior.

Broman was a student of history, whose passion was the Civil War. He was president of the Western Pennsylvania Civil War Roundtable for several years. He once found a handwritten letter by Abraham Lincoln tucked away in a book in the National Archives, Caruso said. Broman immediately notified the staff there and turned it over.

Broman, who with his wife also rescued older dogs, was most recently studying Winston Churchill.

Caruso said Broman was a very fair prosecutor, who would withdraw charges in a case if it was the right thing to do.

“He was one of the most ethical men I knew in the profession,” Caruso said. “Our first duty is to do justice, and he took that to heart.

“I’m better off having known him.”