Not Guilty Due To Drunkenness

[Loafer]

News | Central Vermont
Not guilty due to drunkenness
By Eric Blaisdell
October 22,2015


BARRE — It took about half an hour for a jury to find a St. Johnsbury man not guilty of intentionally ramming into a Vermont State Police cruiser on Interstate 89 in February.
Nathan Jones, 29, pleaded not guilty to a felony count of aggravated assault in Washington County criminal court in March. Jones pleaded guilty in July to other charges arising from the incident, but the state and his lawyer were unable to reach a plea agreement on the aggravated assault charge, so Washington County State’s Attorney Scott Williams requested a trial. In July, Jones admitted to driving under the influence for the fourth time, driving with a suspended license, and gross negligent operation of a motor vehicle. Under a plea agreement, his sentence on those charges is capped at 12 to 18 years in prison, although defense attorney Rosie Chase can argue for a lesser sentence. The state dropped two charges of aggravated assault and one of attempting to elude.
According to the state police affidavits, troopers located Jones on Feb. 27, going north in the southbound lanes in Berlin, where he stopped briefly, then took off in the same direction. Police say Jones approached another cruiser on the interstate and tried to hit it, causing the trooper to drive into a snowbank. Jones continued on and tried to hit a second cruiser, causing that trooper to swerve. On the third attempt, Jones was successful. Police say Trooper Amber Pouliot saw Jones’ headlights coming toward her and tried to pull into a U-turn to get out of his way and to give chase once he passed. After trying to hit the second trooper, police say, Jones stopped briefly, and Pouliot thought he had been halted, so she decided to try to box him in. Police say Jones then drove straight toward her and she put the cruiser in reverse to avoid a collision. Police say Jones hit the front left side of her cruiser, causing his vehicle to roll on its side briefly before landing on its wheels again. He drove into the cruiser again, hitting the rear driver’s side. After he was pulled from the vehicle, troopers say they could smell alcohol on his breath.
During the trial, Williams argued that Jones was trying to hit Pouliot’s cruiser while Chase argued that he was too drunk to know what he was doing.
Jones took the stand and admitted he was drunk and “driving crazy” during the incident, saying, “by the grace of God nobody got hurt.”
Jones said he initially ran from police because he didn’t want to go to jail for driving drunk and didn’t intend to hurt Pouliot. He apologized to the state police and everyone else involved.
In his closing arguments, Williams said Jones showed the ability to have conscious thought during the incident by admitting he was trying to keep from getting arrested. He also said Jones showed intent to cause harm, saying the dash camera video footage from a state police car that was entered into evidence during the first part of the trial Tuesday, appeared to show Jones attempting to hit one state police cruiser before crashing into Pouliot’s cruiser.
“He chose to come back over into the passing lane where Amber Pouliot was driving down the road,” Williams said. “And he came at her head on. There is no question about that.”
In her closing arguments, Chase conceded that nothing that Jones did during the incident in February was good. She called his actions inexcusable.
“(Jones) gets that,” she said. “(Jones) committed a whole host of crimes on Feb. 27. He admits that and he’s already owned up to it,” she said.
But Chase said Jones did not attempt to hurt Pouliot. She said Jones’ vehicle was all over the road that night but he did not hit the three other cruisers involved in the chase, despite the fact that all three troopers had driven in front of him in an attempt to get him to stop.
After about 30 minutes of deliberation, the jury sided with Chase and entered a verdict of not guilty. With the verdict in hand, Judge Kevin Griffin ordered a pre-sentence investigation so Jones can be sentenced on the crimes he pleaded guilty to.
After the trial, Williams said justice was served, though it was not to his liking. He said the jury must have felt strongly in favor of Jones because they took such a short time in deliberations.
eric.blaisdell@timesargus.com

[JD Hog]

It's the "not my fault" attitude that gets me mad now. What do you expect now that our children are now raised with the "everyone wins attitude" and all receive trophies. They can't comprehend that someone could be guilty of something wrong. He can't be held responsible for his actions now because he was too drunk

[id-man]

I though it was cut and dried - if you hit ANYTHING while under influence and you're toast. Any deaths are automatic vehicular homicide...

[Ridefree]

Sometimes this world makes no sense to me at all .

[Sin City Stan]

Speechless . . .