VT- State panel's bumpy road could bring changes

12-1-2008 Vermont:

MONTPELIER — State Sen. Richard Sears says he had trouble getting straight answers — or in one case, any answers — when his Senate committee held hearings recently on Vermont's response to sex crimes.

Now, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee wants legal and procedural changes to make those answers easier to get, in part by protecting those who come forward to testify.

After 12-year-old Brooke Bennett of Braintree was abducted, raped and slain, Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin asked Sears to convene a series of hearings in the summer and fall to study how Vermont handles people charged with sex crimes.

In particular, lawmakers wanted to know how the girl's accused killer, Michael Jacques, 42, a twice-convicted sex offender, came to be released from prison after serving only four years in a 1992 kidnapping and rape and was later released from probation.

But after the hearings, Sears — a Bennington Democrat — and other committee members said they were troubled by some of what they heard and didn't hear as the committee took testimony from law enforcement and corrections officials, victims' advocates, prosecutors and others.

Among the problems encountered in eight full-day hearings and five public hearings around the state that drew more than 150 witnesses:

— Deputy Orange County State's Attorney Robert DiBartolo refused a committee request to testify about his role as prosecutor in a court hearing in which the state Department of Corrections Department officials recommended that Jacques be dismissed from probation.

— Some committee members questioned the truthfulness of testimony by Richard Kearney, a probation officer who supervised Jacques at the time he was recommended for release from probation.

— A Rutland teacher who worked with juvenile sex offenders was removed from his job weeks after testifying to the committee about his experiences dealing with the offenders, even though he made a point during his testimony of not identifying his employer.

Sears and committee vice chairman state Sen. John Campbell said one way to address those problems would be for legislative committees to be given more leeway in issuing subpoenas and taking testimony under oath.

Legislative rules currently allow committees to issue a subpoena if the full House or Senate — or both — passes a resolution calling for that to happen in a specific set of hearings, said Senate Secretary David Gibson and Cathleen Cameron of the House clerk's office.

But with the Legislature out of session this summer when the decision was made to hold the Judiciary Committee hearings, that option wasn't available.

In a 34-page report, the panel recommended making changes to law or legislative procedure that would "explicitly permit legislative committees to subpoena witnesses and establish a penalty for perjury before a legislative committee."

Vermont traditionally has had a more informal process, where people are invited to testify before legislative committees voluntarily and generally are not asked to do so under oath. There have been occasional exceptions to that rules, as when lawmakers investigated the death of David Carriger, an inmate at the state prison in St. Albans town during the 1990s.

Most states are like Vermont in taking the more informal approach, said Brenda Erickson, a senior researcher with the National Conference of State Legislatures. She provided a list of what states do when legislative committees wish to issue subpoenas or take testimony under oath.

Erickson said putting people under oath is "rarely used except under extreme circumstances." Lawmakers generally "want the public to come in and present their opinions, they want it to be a much more informal discussion among people."

Gov. Jim Douglas takes a dim view of the changes being recommended.

"These occasions are so rare that would require subpoena power, the governor's not convinced that the system as it currently exists is broken," said Heidi Mohlman Tringe, secretary of civil and military affairs. "He personally doesn't believe that such a change is necessary. Vermont has a citizen Legislature. It's a very civil, collegial atmosphere." ..News Source.. by Dave Gram