Gov. Phil Scott, Attorney General TJ Donovan; and Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George. VTDigger file photos
Attorney General TJ Donovan will conduct a “thorough, independent review” of the two high-profile murder cases and one attempted murder case dismissed last week by Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George.
Gov. Phil Scott asked Donovan to review the cases June 5, the day after George announced that she had determined there was not enough evidence to rebut the defendants’ planned insanity defenses.
Donovan responded to Scott’s letter Tuesday.
“In consideration of the above, my office will conduct a thorough, independent review of the dismissed cases and determine whether new charges should be filed,” Donovan wrote. “However, as I state every time criminal charges are filed, every defendant is presumed innocent until their guilt is proven in a court of law.”
The individuals whose charges were dropped are: Louis Fortier, charged with a murder on Church Street in Burlington in March 2017; Aita Gurung, charged for murdering his wife in October 2017 with a meat cleaver in Burlington; and Veronica Lewis, charged with attempted murder for shooting her firearms instructor in 2015 in Westford.
Scott had expressed concerns about the public safety implications of George’s decision, writing that he was “at a loss as to the logic or strategy behind this decision to drop all charges.”
“The top priority of government is public safety, and I certainly don’t take this obligation lightly,” Scott wrote. “A civil society cannot function properly when a heinous violent crime is not properly adjudicated, and the public is put at risk.”
Donovan wrote that Scott’s request for him to revisit George’s decision required “due care and considered deliberation” since the state’s attorney is an independent constitutional officer responsible for prosecuting crimes that occur in her jurisdiction.
“As such, respect for the rule of law and due process requires certain deference to the State’s Attorney’s work,” he wrote. “This deference is crucial to maintaining public trust in our democratic systems and institutions.”
But Donovan wrote that he shares Scott’s concerns about public safety — and that executive agencies shared the responsibility in maintaining it.
“I believe that public safety is the first responsibility of government,” he wrote. “In the matters at hand, I trust that the Departments of Public Safety and Mental Health will carry out their duties consistent with their statutory authority.”
Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George is sworn into office by Gov. Phil Scott in 2017. Photo by Elizabeth Hewitt/VTDigger
George made a related point in a Twitter thread responding to Scott’s letter last week, saying that the governor should focus on making sure that the Department of Mental Health was capable of handling the release of violent defendants found to be insane.
“It is awful that our mental health agencies are failing us,” she wrote, “but real leadership requires digging in and fixing problems, not pointing fingers elsewhere and undermining the judicial system’s integrity.”
George also criticized Scott for asking Donovan to review the cases.
“To believe that I would not have considered EVERY SINGLE alternative and LEGAL option before making my final decision is insulting to myself, all of the attorneys involved in this process and to the victims and their families,” she wrote on Twitter.
After Scott sent his letter last week, Donovan said it would take a “rare circumstance” for the attorney general to take over a dismissed case.
“Because of that, there needs to be exceptional and extraordinary reasons to do that,” he said. “Public safety may be those exceptional or extraordinary reason to refile a dismissed case from an independently elected prosecutor.”
George did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday but has defended her decision to dismiss the cases, saying that the evidence in favor of the defendant’s use of the insanity defense was “overwhelming.”
“It’s my belief as an officer of the court and in my ethical obligations as a prosecutor, I can not go to trial on a case I know we do not have expert testimony to rebut the defense,” she said.
In the Gurung and Lewis cases, George’s office hired experts to try to rebut the insanity defense who determined the defendants were, in fact, insane at the time of the attacks.
In the Fortier case, George asked the court-appointed expert to do a further evaluation of his finding of insanity. The doctor returned with the same evaluation.
Vermont Defender General Matthew Valerio, whose office represents all three of the defendants, said Tuesday he had no problem with Donovan’s decision to review the three cases.
Valerio said the attorney general has “concurrent” jurisdiction with state’s attorneys when it comes to criminal matters.
Alan Keays contributed reporting
Read the story on VTDigger here: Attorney General will review dismissal of Chittenden murder cases.