New Haven — A reasonable police officer should know that if a man holds a loaded gun for five hours and doesn't shoot himself, he doesn't really want to die, Attorney Hubert J. Santos told a federal district court judge Wednesday.

Santos made the statement before Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, who held a hearing regarding a lawsuit in federal court that claims state police provoked Poquonnock Bridge firefighter Timothy Devine to kill himself in 2012 by repeatedly firing nonlethal ammunition at him.

"They were trying to save Mr. Devine's life on that evening," said Matthew B. Beizer, assistant attorney general, representing the troopers. "That's what they were trying to do."

The troopers' motives and actions should not be questioned, he told Meyer.

The estate of Timothy Devine accused four troopers —Louis Fusaro Jr., Steven Rief, Michael Avery and Kevin Cook —of using excessive force against Devine and violating his civil rights, effectively "causing" his death.

Michael Devine, Timothy Devine's father, is the administrator of the estate. 

Fusaro, one of the defendant troopers, is now chief of the Groton Town Police Department.

Beizer filed a motion on June 11 for summary judgment in the case, which seeks to have a judge decide the case without trial.

A hearing on that motion was held Wednesday, as Devine's family members watched in court.

Meyer did not make a decision but said he would issue one shortly.

Beizer said the four troopers cannot be sued because they were acting in their official capacities. 

Qualified immunity is based on a U.S. Supreme Court decision that gives state or municipal employees the benefit of the doubt when they make difficult decisions.

But Santos said qualified immunity protects law enforcement officers only insofar as their actions were objectively reasonable.

The day before Devine's death, in the early hours of July 24, 2012, on the University of Connecticut campus at Avery Point, several teenage boys gave police statements accusing Devine, who owned a Crossfit gym in Groton city, of touching them in a sexually inappropriate manner, court papers said.

Beizer said the troopers arrived to find a suicidal man with a loaded handgun on a public college campus.

Police negotiated with Devine for five hours, but he refused to give up the gun, Beizer said.

"It was close to the morning time. This area is a public park," Beizer said. The troopers worried someone might stumble upon the scene or they would lose their tactical advantage when the sun rose, Beizer said.

The troopers knew of the sexual nature of the allegations and they may have concluded Devine could present more of a risk because of this.

The troopers weren't getting anywhere with their negotiations, and the less than lethal ammunition they had and used was designed specifically for this purpose, or instances where people threaten to harm themselves or others, Beizer said.

But Santos said Devine was talking to negotiators, even joking with them, when he was shot by plastic batons.

Any reasonable officer would have recognized that if Devine stood on the rocks for five hours, kept talking to negotiators and didn't harm himself, he didn't really want to die, but wanted help.

"He could have pulled that trigger at anytime if he were really intent on killing himself," Santos said. The appropriate action was to "stand down" and wait, not fire batons designed to inflict pain, Santos said. After the first round, Santos said Devine told troopers, "Don't make me do this," yet they went back to reload, Santos said.

Satnos said he's had many clients accused of various crimes over the years who have wanted to "jump off the Brooklyn Bridge." But they didn't, and they're alive and thriving today, he said.

That's the tragedy of the case, Santos told the judge. He also cited an affidavit by Jeffrey Douchette, Devine's friend and supervisor at the Poquonnock Bridge Fire Department, who said he heard a tactical officer at the scene, later identified as Rief say, "If he shoots himself, it would be an acceptable outcome and it won't be on us."

"I would submit, that these police officers, knowing the sexual allegations against Mr. Devine, looked at him as 'less than,'" Santos said.

The last thing you want to do to a suicidal person is shoot them with anything, Santos said.

He believes the officers were frustrated, and he questioned whether, if they had been dealing with the mayor of Groton or a congressman instead of Devine, they would have acted differently.

d.straszheim@theday.com

Twitter: @DStraszheim