Concern about lack of support for victims of crime from Addison County

Middlebury, Vt. (WCAX) – Is justice in danger for victims of crime in Addison County? WCAX News has learned that the lawyer of the sole victim has resigned in the public prosecutor's office of Addison County, Katie Dutton. Her last day is Friday. And the other lawyer was released by a non -profit partnership.

The public prosecutor's office of every public prosecutor in Vermont must ensure that the victims receive access to information about their case, the ability to provide input and more through the work of victim representatives. It was a law in the 1980s. But in Addison County these services have now been shortened.

“When your voices are heard, it improves the quality of justice to have supported them,” said Ian Sullivan, Rutland County prosecutor.

Vermont has 26 lawyers for victims of the state employee, each of whom work together in a district together with the state's public prosecutor.

Sullivan says that her work is of the greatest importance to ensure that justice is served.

“If these things do not happen, the feeling of the public will further exacerbate that their punitive justice system will not work,” he said.

After a decision by the lawyer of the State of Addison County, there will soon be no lawyer for victims in this office.

The lawyers and sheriffs of the country of Vermont Department of State say in a statement that they were advised by Eva Veko's state of Addison County that they no longer wanted the services and support of the victim of the Special Investigations Unit, Martha Bowdish.

“I have absolutely concerns about the training, experience and the knowledge that are committed to the supporters of victims in this position, can simply play a role that people can enter with other tasks and responsibilities,” said Jennifer Poehlmann from Victim services of the Vermont Center for Crime.

According to Poehlmann, the supporters of the victims are responsible for 600 cases on average. Their work is to keep the victims up to date in their cases, ensure that they have a seat at the table and connect them with other resources.

As a supplement, the state also works with local non -profit organizations for services such as the Atria Collective in Addison County. These services were also shortened.

The Atria Collective says that during the time of Vekos, they “saw countless cases in which the legal rights of victims were violated”. They claim that Vekos has shown a consistent and disturbing disregard for respect and dignity of the victims.

“I really want to underline that it is critical of having someone whose individual focus is on the support of someone in the worst time of his life. The role of the lawyer is critical. It is not a system that has been built for victims, but does not concentrate on them … But there is a person you can count on,” said Poehlmann.

The state's lawyer, Eva Veko, had not yet returned my repeated inquiries about a comment when this story was published.

The lawyers and sheriffs of the Ministry of the Ministry of the State says that the position in Addison County will be published at some point in July with a start date for a new candidate.

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