Updated 6:39 p.m.
Gov. Phil Scott has asked Attorney General T.J. Donovan to review the decision to dismiss charges in three major cases involving insanity defenses, two of which involved gruesome murders in broad daylight in Burlington.
Scott said he was “at a loss as to the logic or strategy” behind the decision by Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George not to prosecute the defendants in the three cases, all of whom claimed they were insane at the time of their crimes.
“These cases are among the most violent crimes committed in Vermont in recent memory, and with their dismissal, there is no longer a possibility of supervision by the Department of Corrections or conditions of release to protect Vermonters,” Scott wrote in his letter.
In an interview with Seven Days Thursday, George pushed back on the governor’s critique.
“It always frustrates me when individuals make statements about a decision I’ve made without all the facts,” George said, adding that she did not know if the governor had read her press releases or the court documents outlining her rationale for the dismissals.
“This was not an easy decision,” George said. “This was not something I took lightly. This is something I lost a lot of sleep over. And I would never have done it if I felt like there was another option.”
Donovan called the governor’s letter “an extraordinary request.”
“I understand the issue of public safety, but I also understand the issue of due process,” Donovan said. “The fact is that Sarah George is an independently elected prosecutor and it’s her case, and it’s not my role to second-guess elected prosecutors who are litigating their cases.”
Nevertheless, since public safety concerns have been raised, both by the dismissals and the governor’s letter, Donovan said, it’s his responsibility, as both the state’s top law enforcement officer and counsel for the Department of Mental Health to ensure that the public trusts how such cases are handled.
“There are no easy answers on this,” Donovan said. “The fact of the matter is, we have a problem, so let’s solve it.”
George announced on Tuesday that she was dropping charges in the three cases because she had no evidence to refute defense claims that the defendants were insane.
She dismissed charges against Aita Gurung, who was arraigned on a first-degree murder charge in 2017 for stabbing his wife to death with a meat cleaver; Louis Fortier, who was charged with first-degree murder in 2017 for the fatal Church Street stabbing; and Veronica Lewis, who was charged with attempted first-degree murder in 2015 for shooting her firearms instructor multiple times. He survived.
Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo and Mayor Miro Weinberger both issued statements after George’s decision expressing concern about the public safety implications of the decision.
“On the heels of these decisions, the State must do everything within its power and jurisdiction to ensure the safety of Burlingtonians and prevent these individuals from returning to our streets and neighborhoods,” Weinberger wrote in his statement.
Scott noted that the Department of Mental Health “has no legal authority to continue to keep individuals hospitalized” when they no longer meet the legal standard of needing hospital care, and suggested the public might be endangered by the decisions.
“The top priority of government is public safety, and I certainly don’t take this obligation lightly,” Scott said. “A civil society cannot function properly when a heinous violent crime is not properly adjudicated, and the public is put at risk.”
George said she had spoken previously with Donovan, her predecessor as Chittenden County’s top prosecutor, and “he was aware of these cases and decision we were facing.”
“I certainly can understand if the AG wants to review these cases,” George said. “he is of course, welcome to do that; it is within his jurisdiction.”
Read Gov. Scott’s letter below:
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To be clear: police officers and police chiefs should never be questioned because their jobs are tough and civilians will never understand them. State attorneys, prosecutors, medical examiners should be questioned whenever their decisions hurt us politically.
It should be taken to court and let the judge and jury decide
“Sarah George is an independently elected prosecutor and its her case, and its not my role to second-guess elected prosecutors who are litigating their cases.” – TJ Donovan
TJ had no issue with “second-guessing” the Bennington County’s State’s Attorney’s decision to litigate/not litigate cases in that jurisdiction regarding Kiah Morris’s allegations.
TJ is trying score cheap political points by attempting to make Phil’s letter appear as some type of unprecedented request. It is encouraging to see Chief del Pozo and Mayor Weinberger have the courage to disregard the mountain partisan pressure from fellow Democrats and question SA George’s findings; TJ’s actions indicate he doesn’t possess that courage.
Sarah George is ineffective. Insanity is a hard defense to prove, as demonstrated by the Bourgoin case.
The three dismissed cases at issue – the Gurung case in particular – have ample evidence to go to trial. Thank you Governor Scott for intervening.
Come to Vermont kill someone or try to kill them, then quickly the lawyer says “plead insanity and you’ll walk away. !!! All 3 knew what they were doing. Makes you wonder == was someone bought off??? Was someone a coward?? To not tried them is so wrong !!!
People commenting here do not understand one of the major standards in prosecuting a case. A prosecutor is ethically bound not to bring a case for which the prosecutor cannot make the requirements of proof of the crime charged. In insanity defenses, most cases go to trial because psychiatrists disagree about the diagnosis and the conclusions that can be drawn to a reasonable degree of medical certainty. This is what happened in the Bourgain case, which properly went to a jury.
Sarah George did the legally correct action in the three cases. As her motions to the court portrayed, she had no psychiatric evidence in any of the cases to rebut the evidence of insanity. In two of the cases, her hired expert confirmed the defense’s evidence. If there is no evidence to support a claim of sanity, there is no case to be tried. You can’t make lemonade without lemons, and Sarah George had no lemons in these cases. This should not be a political football.
I was charged for J-walking one day after a local bagel shop ran out of everything bagels.
I was distraught! So can I get my charge dropped as well?
With a little research, it is very clear that the insanity defense is rarely successful often being referred to as a “hail Mary” tactic . Rarely successful unless Ms George is the prosecutor . Perhaps she is just incompetent ? Keep fighting the loonies Governor .
Alsop says we all dont understand this issue as she does. Shes probably right. She probably knows a lot about the insanity defense.
Folks seem to be forgetting that criminal penalties are meant to be severe in order to deter future would be crooks. By not imposing severe penalties commensurate with the crime, regardless of mental capacity, diminishes deterrence, thereby ensuring harm to future innocents. For this reason, criminal penalties should not be reduced by reason of insanity.
There is a question that needs to be asked about Mr. Gurung. If he is an immigrant, and he is here legally and he is deranged mentally, is this a sudden crazy episode? If not who allowed him into the USA?
Also, you do not stab someone with a meat cleaver. You beat them to death with a sharp instrument.