May 22, 2014

Jacques lawyers fear he could be killed in prison

5-22-2014 Vermont:

Michael Jacques' lawyers say he is at risk of being killed in jail by fellow inmates because of his reputation as a serial child sex offender.

His attorneys wanted a judge to recommend that Jacques be placed in an Arizona penitentiary that could offer protection from such attacks. But the judge declined to do so.

Jacques, 48 and formerly of Randolph, was sentenced to life without parole Tuesday for kidnapping and killing his 12-year-old niece, Brooke Bennett, in 2008.

Court records show that Jacques sexually assaulted at least four other girls or young women over three decades, and he made videos of a pre-teen female engaging in various sex acts.

"He will be targeted for death by other inmates," stated an eight-page motion filed secretly by Jacques' legal team at U.S. District Court in Burlington. Judge William K. Sessions III ordered the motion unsealed after Tuesday's sentencing hearing.

"It is the nature of the inmate code that the presence of such an inmate will not be tolerated by fellow inmates," the defense claimed. "The fact that he murdered a child makes the situation even worse."

The motion sought to have Sessions recommend to the federal Bureau of Prisons that Jacques be assigned to a high-security federal penitentiary in Tucson, Ariz.

According to the motion, the Tucson facility specializes in housing convicted sex offenders — 65 percent of the prison's population are sex offenders — and therefore would be an "appropriate" designation for Jacques.

Jacques' lawyers consulted with the staff attorney for the Tucson facility about whether the penitentiary would make sense for someone like Jacques.

"If Mr. Jacques is classified as a high security inmate, he would be suited to this facility," the staff attorney, Theresa T. Talplacido, wrote to the defense Feb. 26, according to the motion.

Sessions denied the defense request, ruling that he would leave the decision about where Jacques spends the rest of his life to federal prison authorities. ..Continued.. by Sam Hemingway

No comments: