Jody Herring is led out of court after her arraignment Aug. 10. File photo by Toby Talbot
Jody Herring’s defense attorney says she does not have the mental competence to stand trial on charges that she murdered four people, including a state worker.
David Sleigh represents Herring in cases alleging aggravated murder of three relatives and the first-degree murder of Lara Sobel, a social worker for the Department for Children and Families.
Sobel was gunned down Aug. 7; the three other victims were found dead the next morning.
Sleigh said in an interview Thursday that he has filed motions in both cases — the killing of Herring’s relatives and the killing of Sobel — seeking to dismiss the charges until Herring becomes competent to stand trial.
“It’s well-established that it is unconstitutional to try a criminal defendant who is incompetent to stand trial,” Sleigh said. “Competency is seen as a fluid as opposed to absolute state so that people can be incompetent for a period of time and regain competency later on.”
“Incompetency results from a mental disease or defect that inhibits significantly or substantially your ability to understand the process or to meaningfully assist (your) counsel in the presentation of the defense,” he added.
John Treadwell, the main lawyer handling the case for the attorney general’s office, said his office will be opposing the motion.
Treadwell said Vermont has a legal process for addressing issues of competence “and dismissal is not part of that process.” He said he expected the state to file a response to Sleigh on Friday.
Court documents released in August say Herring had a history of bipolar disorder documented back to at least 2009. She also suffered from mood swings, “marked difficulties in maintaining social functioning” and “mild restriction of activities of daily living,” according to the documents.
Sleigh immediately sought to have Herring’s mental health records sealed. Washington County Superior Court in Barre sided with Sleigh, and an internal investigation found that the records were erroneously released.
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