PUTNEY — The family of Scott Garvey has hired a Los Angeles law firm that has a long record of successfully suing police involved in fatal shootings.
The head of the law firm, Dale Galipo, said this week that the family would like an apology from the Vermont State Police for the death of Garvey, 55, a mentally ill man who had been diagnosed with schziophrenia and bi-polar disorder. He had moved to Vermont with his elderly mother in early July in part to seek better mental health care than he received in Tennessee.
Galipo said his firm has filed suit in 12 different states, "and now 13."
"We're not in a rush to file suit," he said. "We're going one step at a time."
He said it was too soon to file a wrongful death suit on behalf of Garvey, a former Memphis, Tenn., resident who moved to Putney with his elderly mother, on July 5, two days before he was shot by police.
Residents of the Putney Landing housing project had called police complaining about what they viewed as his threatening behavior. Garvey was shot after several hours of negotiations with the state police and their assigned social worker, as they were trying to arrest him for criminal threatening and disorderly conduct.
"It was not necessary to kill him," Galipo said.
The investigation is still being conducted Galipo said, and this week the Garvey family started posting flyers around Putney asking residents who have any knowledge of the July 7 fatal shooting to reach out to them via their website: www.justiceforscottgarvey.org.
Galipo said he's had a long and successful career litigating the issues around use of force and police misconduct. He said his firm had handled 500 such cases. Galipo was the lead attorney in a March 2025 federal jury verdict that awarded $30.5 million to the family of an unarmed man shot by a deputy sheriff with the Kern County Sheriff's Department in California.
According to the Galipo law firm website, the firm has won many million dollar awards on behalf of its clients. Most of the verdicts listed were in California.
Galipo said the state of Vermont has so far refused to address the family's immediate concerns, including the funeral expenses associated with Scott Garvey and even cleaning the townhouse apartment at Putney Landing, where the shooting took place.
"It's very very sad," Galipo said in a telephone conversation. "I hope I can bring the family help with closure."
"The reality is it never brings the person back," he said. "They are devastated. They are grieving," he said.
Galipo said that a social worker assigned to the state police is investigating the case as well, and Galipo said the questions she is asking is sending the wrong message. "They want to blame the family and the decedent," he said, rather than apologize for what happened. "They don't want to tell you anything for months."
He said the family is particularly concerned about what they view as inadequate training for the state police in such mental health situations.
Garvey's mother Judy has since moved out of Putney Landing.
Shawn Garvey, the older brother of Scott Garvey, said that his wife had a connection with the Galipo firm. Shawn Garvey lives in Chico, Calif., where he works as a consultant, environmental activitst and clean energy technologies. He is a founder and board member of Momentum, a California consulting firm.
Meanwhile, Windham County State's Attorney Steven Brown said Tuesday that he will ask to have his office recused from the Garvey investigation, citing the close working relationship his office has had with the officers of the Vermont State Police Westminster barracks, as well as with the trooper who shot and killed Garvey, Peter Romeo.
Romeo is the lead investigator on about five serious cases Brown's office is currently prosecuting, including another Putney case involving the death of an elderly pedestrian in May by a driver under the influence of drugs.
Romeo, a two-year veteran of the Vermont State Police and a 2023 graduate of the Vermont Police Academy, is on mandated paid leave.
Brown said it was too soon to say which state's attorney's office would take over what is a collaborative role with the attorney general's office in investigating police shootings.
Adam Silverman, a spokesman for the Vermont State Police, declined to comment on the Garvey family hiring a lawyer.
