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The story of Dan Gross is a stark reminder—and a call to action—about how Connecticut’s probate system can fail its most vulnerable.

Who was Dan Gross?

An 86-year-old New York resident, Gross was visiting his daughter in Waterbury in 2005 when a hospital staffer requested a conservatorship hearing from the local probate court. On September 1, 2005, Probate Judge Thomas P. Brunnock appointed an attorney to represent Gross—even though he opposed the conservatorship and appeared mentally alert and articulate.

A Shocking Confinement.

Brunnock’s court handed Gross over to a conservator who placed him in a locked nursing home ward. Gross spent nearly a year confined there, despite not being a Connecticut resident and never receiving proper notice of the hearing.

Freed—but not unscarred.

A Superior Court judge later granted Gross a writ of habeas corpus, calling the case a “terrible miscarriage of justice.” He was released and returned to New York, only to find his home in disarray. Gross died about a year later, but his ordeal sparked lawsuits that ultimately curbed the blanket immunity once enjoyed by conservators and court-appointed lawyers.

The Political Cover-Up.

Instead of being held accountable, Judge Brunnock was kept in office thanks to political deal-making. Allegations surfaced that Democratic leaders offered Republican candidates either money or state jobs in exchange for not running against him. With opposition cleared away, Brunnock sailed through re-election, even as the Connecticut Supreme Court strongly criticized his handling of the Gross case.

Even Senator Joan Hartley—who built her reputation on public service—stood behind Brunnock, not in the interest of children or senior citizens, but because of ties to nonprofit networks that benefited from his continued influence.

Why It Matters

The Dan Gross case shows how systemic abuse isn’t just about probate judges—it’s about the politicians who protect them. When party leaders rig elections to shield corrupt officials, senior citizens lose their rights, families lose trust in government, and democracy itself is weakened.

Gross’s suffering became the spark for legal reform. But the political machinery that kept Judge Brunnock in power is still in place. Unless it’s dismantled, Connecticut’s most vulnerable remain at risk.

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