Lawyer says he grabbed shotgun from client; he had sought to withdraw from her case
Patricia Currie. Photo from St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Lawyer Keith Couture says he was surprised to see a 75-year-old bankruptcy client sitting in his office lobby last Thursday.
The client, 75-year-old Patricia Currie, had apparently entered the lobby without him noticing, Couture tells the New Orleans Times-Picayune. She had a towel draped across her lap and was wearing plastic bags on her hands and feet, Couture says.
Couture asked how he could help the woman. The towel, it turned out, was covering a shotgun, according to Couture. “She pointed a gun at me and said she would kill me,” Couture told the newspaper. “It was fight or flight. I just grabbed the gun and that was it.”
Currie was charged with aggravated assault with a firearm, resisting an officer, possession of a controlled substance, and illegal carrying of a weapon during a crime of violence. The New Orleans Times-Picayune had a prior story, and the Advocate also had coverage.
Couture had sought to withdraw from Currie’s bankruptcy case in a motion filed about a month ago, citing a fundamental disagreement on the direction of the case. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Magner denied the motion on Oct. 25. Couture filed a new motion to withdraw on Oct. 28, a day after the incident.
Currie was seeking to strip a junior lien on her property filed by her condo association in a battle over unpaid monthly dues. The condo association claims Currie owes $18,000, while Currie claims the dues were unfairly apportioned, according to the Times-Picayune.
Nearly 20 lawsuits and appeals have been filed between Currie and the condo association since 1998. Couture believes those legal battles are the reason Currie showed up with a shotgun at his office.
“She was upset with the homeowners association,” Couture said. “That’s what she was displeased with. That no one was helping her.”
