Judge tells lawyer accused of Derby court slap, get more therapy

MIDDLETOWN — A judge said she wants to see a lawyer charged with slapping another attorney outside the Derby courthouse get more therapy before deciding on whether to approve a diversionary program in the case.

“I want to see more of a track record of mental health and psychiatric treatment before making any decision,” Judge Julia DiCocco Dewey said Thursday during a hearing in the case of 44-yearold Robert Serafinowicz, who faces charges of third-degree assault of an elderly person and breach of peace in connection to the Sept. 7, 2022 incident involving Edward Gavin, a Bridgeport attorney.

Serafinowicz has applied for accelerated rehabilitation, a form of unsupervised probation which, if completed successfully, results in charges being dismissed.

But the judge noted that to approve Serafinowicz’s application, she must make findings that the offense isn’t serious and that he’s unlikely to offend again.

She said that she hasn’t made any decisions yet, but that she had the most reservations about having to find Serafinowicz, who also faces criminal charges in Hartford, is unlikely to offend again.

“I haven’t made my mind up one way or the other,” DiCocco Dewey said.

The prosecutor in the case, Assistant State’s Attorney Amy Bepko, did not take an official position on Serafinowicz’s application in court Thursday.

Serafinowicz’s lawyer, William Burns, submitted medical records he had shown to Bepko previously for the judge’s review.

Gavin attended Thursday’s hearing but did not speak in court and declined to comment Friday.

Serafinowicz said prior to his arraignment in the case last year that he was provoked, and that his disagreement with Gavin dated back a decade, to comments he said Gavin made after Serafinowicz was suspended for making disparaging remarks about a judge.

A 20-second video of the incident depicts Serafinowicz shouting expletives at Gavin on the sidewalk in front of the courthouse as Gavin appears to extend a hand in conciliation before Serafinowicz slaps his fellow attorney.

Last February Serafinowicz made national news when he successfully represented former Fairfield dog rescue agency President Heidi Lueders, who was found not guilty by a judge of animal cruelty charges in the death of five dogs in her former Fairfield home.

But he also made headlines in 2013 when he was suspended from practicing law for 120 days after he stood on the steps of the Derby courthouse and in front of news media made disparaging remarks about a judge.

Serafinowicz appealed the suspension but it was upheld in 2015 by the state Appellate Court.

In addition to the Derby case, West Hartford police charged Serafinowicz with second-degree stalking and second-degree harassment last November in connection with an August 2022 incident with a different victim. He has not yet entered pleas in that case but has vowed to contest the charges.