Enfield
Paulette Dunbar was sentenced to one year of good behavior, meaning she will not serve any jail time.
Though Lebanon District Court Judge Thomas Bamberger found Dunbar, 67, guilty of having unprivileged contact with David Stewart for grabbing at Stewart’s cellphone during a break in the April 18 meeting, Bamberger on Monday made it clear he did not find the victim entirely blameless for the incident. He could have imposed a fine, but did not.
Dunbar said she regrets her behavior.
“I know I made a mistake,” Dunbar said in a telephone interview earlier this week. “I did the wrong thing. I felt really violated; it was just a reactive thing.”
In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Stewart said he was pleased with the outcome of the case.
“Here is a woman who has never said one word to me and decides that our first real contact is to swat at me,” Stewart said. “It is a matter of principle here.”
Stewart said he felt he was justified in videotaping the couple at a public meeting. Dunbar and her partner, Donald Plante, attended the meeting to talk about the outing club’s taxes, something that has been a source of contention between the couple and the club. The nonprofit is tax exempt.
Stewart, Dunbar and Plante had dealings before the meeting.
Dunbar and Plante live across the street from the outing club, and in January they filed a court petition seeking injunctive relief, saying the club violated Enfield’s zoning ordinance by expanding use on its site.
The couple says the club, which operates a shooting range, has grown beyond its grandfathered-in size and has changed its model. They wish for the club to return to the mode of operation it followed decades ago.
“Why I was recording wasn’t out of spite or malice or to make her uncomfortable,” Stewart said. “I was there to document the facts.”
Stewart’s recording shows he kept the camera trained on Dunbar and Plante for the majority of the meeting, even when neither was speaking.
Bamberger called Stewart’s persistent taping of the couple “abhorrent,” according to both Charlie Buttrey, Dunbar’s attorney, and Christopher O’Connor of the Lower Grafton County Prosecutorial Association.
“While what (Dunbar) did was technically illegal, what (Stewart) did was rude and uncivil and unnecessary,” Buttrey said, summarizing Bamberger’s ruling.
O’Connor said he felt the outcome of the case was appropriate and he had “no objection” to the lack of a fine.
Bamberger placed the case “on file with a finding,” meaning Dunbar can annul the charge from her record more quickly than she would be able to had the judge issued a straight finding of guilt, O’Connor said.
If Dunbar lives up to the good behavior requirements, Buttrey said, the matter will “effectively be dismissed.”
Though Buttrey said he was disappointed with the judge’s finding that the state proved its case, he said he was pleased with the overall resolution.
Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248