Prosecutors endorse reforms for sex offender cases
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By DANIEL BARLOW Vermont Press Bureau - Published: August 7, 2008
MONTPELIER — Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell and nearly all of the county prosecutors on Wednesday endorsed a slate of reforms in how the state investigates and prosecutes sex offenders.
Sorrell and 13 state's attorneys said expanding the Sexual Offense Investigative Units to all areas of Vermont would boost the quality of evidence that prosecutors can use against suspected sex offenders in court.
They also endorsed changes that would make it easier for prosecutors to present evidence of past acts by suspects and protect victims from having to give depositions to defense attorneys in sex crime cases.
"We do this work 2-4/7," Sorrell said, during an afternoon press conference in Montpelier on Wednesday. "And we are in agreement that these are the proposals that, if implemented, will allow us to do our jobs better."
The proposals also included:
Rutland County State's Attorney James Mongeon said his county does have an SIU, but there is no specific investigator assigned to it. The benefit of having specific officers assigned to these units is that they focus solely on sex crime cases — making them more knowledgeable about how to gather the evidence needed to prosecute, he explained.
"We have a special unit, but we are missing the 'I'," Mongeon said. "What we need is assigned investigators. We need that talent, that experience."
There seemed to be a division among prosecutors on one of the chief proposals offered by Gov. James Douglas in response to the Bennett tragedy: passing a version of Jessica's Law, which sets up a 25-year minimum for sex offenses against children.
Bennington County State's Attorney Erica Marthage said changes in state law making it easier to take court-admissible evidence from victims would help her boost her prosecutions. But too often the victims break down when faced with depositions from defense attorneys, she explained.
"I want to see long sentences," she said. "But the sentence is not going to matter if I can't get the case to trial."
But T.J. Donovan, the Chittenden County state's attorney, said options like Jessica's Law should be on the table and lawmakers should talk to officials in other states to see how that law and its variations do or do not work for them.
"We need to look at it," he said. "But we shouldn't rely on anecdotal evidence or emotion."
Wednesday's press conference to highlight the proposed reforms comes one day before the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to begin a slate of hearings on the Bennett case and how Vermont handles sex offenders.
Sen. John Campbell, D-Windsor, a member of that committee, attended the press conference Wednesday. Some of these issues lawmakers have considered in the past, he said, including changing the law to make it easier for prosecutors to admit evidence of prior bad acts.
But most telling for Campbell was the prosecutors' focus on boosting the investigative units that are specifically trained to handle sex crimes. If the state puts resources toward those efforts, it will result in stronger cases and more prosecutions, he said.
"By not fully funding these units, the state is essentially putting forward a brand new car with no wheels," he said.
Vermont Democrats have been critical of Douglas, a Republican up for reelection this year, for not fully funding the SIU units. The Douglas administration has responded that they are operating within the funding timeline set forth by legislation passed two years ago.
On Tuesday, House Speaker Gaye Symington, D-Jericho, who is challenging Douglas for his job this year, called on the governor to start putting the resources behind these units immediately.
"I have been asking for weeks why the additional units do not have state troopers in them," she said in a statement. "The governor has failed to explain why he has not taken action. He has the authority to transfer troopers into these units, and he should do it today."
Tom Tremblay, the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Safety, started the state's first special investigative unit under the umbrella of the Burlington Police department in 1986. That unit eventually became the Chittenden County unit that many see as a model for other counties.
He said Wednesday that it is one of his top priorities to continue expanding these units, but that even in the case of Chittenden County's success, it took "six to eight years for them to get off the ground."
"Over the last three years we have seen more and more resources being placed toward these units," said Tremblay, who was appointed to his new job earlier this year. "Nobody wants to see these units go statewide more than I do."
The platform unveiled Wednesday is endorsed by 13 of the state's 14 county prosecutors.
The only one who did not sign on is Sen. Vincent Illuzzi, R-Essex/Orleans, who also serves as a part-time county prosecutor in Essex. Sorrell said Illuzzi declined to join his colleagues because of that duel role that will also have him likely voting on changes as a member of the Vermont Senate.
Contact Daniel Barlow at Daniel.Barlow@timesargus.com.
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