We mourn the passing of one of Connecticut’s greatest citizens and a giant of the bench and bar. Judge John T. Downey died Nov. 17 at the age of 84. His made-for-movie life story is well known. Choate, Yale undergraduate , CIA and then 20 years of brutal captivity in China after the CIA flight he was on was shot down over China in 1952.
After President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger negotiated his release in March, 1973, he received his law degree three short years later from Harvard Law School. In 1978, Downey was appointed a judge by Gov. William O’Neill and served with distinction in that position until his retirement in 1997. Until recently, he continued to serve on a part time basis as a judge trial referee.
