After possibly being exposed to coronavirus in Allegheny Co. Courthouse, local attorney dies from it

ALLEGHENY CO., Pa. — A longtime assistant district attorney for Allegheny County, Russ Broman, has died after a battle with COVID-19.

District Attorney spokesperson Mike Manko confirmed Broman, 65, had been hospitalized with the coronavirus since July 7. A family attorney said in July that he was not on a ventilator, but that it could be a possibility in the future.

He was listed in critical condition on July 14 and continued to struggle to recover from the virus over the past few weeks.

The family’s attorney told Channel 11 previously that Broman thinks he was exposed to the coronavirus on June 30 while at the Allegheny County Courthouse. Just a week later, he had to be taken to the hospital.

Broman worked in the district attorney’s office since the early 1980s, and his accolades are endless.

He argued in front of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court twice and 3rd Circuit Court multiple times, and he’s won a number of awards.

As of last month, the DA’s office and President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark have confirmed a number of cases among attorneys and court employees:

• One works in the City-County Building and tested positive July 4.
• One works in pretrial services and tested positive June 30.
• One works in the family division and tested positive June 30. This employee was working from home.
• One worked at Judge Anthony DeLuca’s Penn Hills office and tested positive July 5.
• A Pittsburgh Municipal Court employee who tested positive July 5.
• An employee in the probation office tested positive June 30.

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Just days after Broman was hospitalized with the coronavirus, defense attorney Joe Horowitz told Channel 11 he refused to go into the Allegheny County courthouse after several court employees tested positive.

Late last month, defense attorney Frank Walker spoke out in a video on behalf of employees who have voiced their concerns to him privately about COVID-19 within the courthouse, but were reluctant to speak publicly due to fear of losing their jobs.

“You failed us. There is no other way of putting it,” Walker said. “We’re trying to make something happen, and in order to do that, we’re just going to force their hand. Give them thermometers and put them to use.”

Last week, our news partners at TribLIVE reported that fellow Assistant District Attorney Ted Dutkowski cannot walk a flight of stairs without struggling to breathe after battling COVID-19. He also believes he contracted the virus at the courthouse.

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