Randolph
Assistant Attorney General Bram Kranichfeld confirmed on Monday that his office would not be bringing charges against Daniel Brunelle.
“We considered the materials that were sent to our office and we’re declining prosecution,” Kranichfeld, chief of the Attorney General’s Office criminal division, said on Monday.
“After a careful review,” he said, “we’ve determined that the evidence described in the material provided to us don’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Dan Brunelle committed a crime on the dates in question.”
Kranichfeld declined further comment on the matter.
“I’m not going to comment on the substance of the evidence that we reviewed,” he said. “I will say that, again, we conducted an independent review.”
The decision was greeted with support from Brunelle’s attorney but drew criticism from his wife, who accused the police chief of assault.
Brunelle had faced two misdemeanor domestic assault charges that were dismissed in November on the recommendation of then-Washington County State’s Attorney Scott Williams. No specific reasons was given for the dismissal at that time.
The dismissal of the case came on the heels of Williams going on medical leave from the office, reportedly to receive psychiatric care. In January, Williams resigned from his position as Washington County’s top prosecutor, citing post-traumatic stress disorder prompted by a quadruple murder in 2015.
In the Brunelle case, the police chief was accused of assaulting his estranged wife in Berlin, Vt., in late July and early August. The woman said that he pushed her into a refrigerator and on, another occasion, onto the ground.
Brunelle denied the allegations and continued to serve as chief with charges pending, and more recently under review.
The Attorney General’s Office had the power to review the case involving Brunelle because of “concurrent jurisdiction.”
Investigators previously have said they agreed to review the matter, in part, because Williams was on medical leave when he texted a deputy prosecutor to dismiss the case and also because it involved a law enforcement officer.
“I disagree with their decision,” the woman who made the allegations against Brunelle said on Monday of the Attorney General’s Office. “I was told that I was going to be brought in to be interviewed so they could get the complete story, but that did not happen.”
She said when Williams recommended dismissing the case she “took comfort” in the Attorney General’s Office agreeing to review the matter.
“Nothing came of that,” she said. “The Attorney General’s Office basically made their decision based on an incomplete report.”
She said she was told by the Attorney General’s Office that one of the main reasons it was not going to go forward with the case was because, on the night Brunelle was arrested, she told police the pain from the reported assault was about a three on a scale of one to 10.
“I told them I had the wind knocked out of me more than it actually hurt,” she said. “The AG’s Office said because it was only a three on a scale from one to 10 they weren’t going to go forward with the case.”
The woman added, “I thought it was ridiculous. Do I need to wind up in the hospital for them to take it seriously?”
Craig Nolan, an attorney representing Brunelle, said on Monday that the evidence in the case did not support the filing of charges.
“There was no evidence that even corroborated her stories,” Nolan said. “She had specific motivation to make false accusations, and she knew that she could hurt Dan and his career by making those false allegations.”
Questions also were raised about credibility issues involving the arresting officer in Berlin, Vt., Joseph Carriveau.
VtDigger reported in November that Carriveau had a disciplinary problem while attending the Vermont Police Academy in Pittsford. After Brunelle’s arrest, Carriveau took a job with the Barre Police Department. Barre Police Chief Tim Bombardier later confirmed that Carriveau resigned from the force in November.
Brunelle started as chief in Randolph in June following nearly two decades on the force in South Burlington, where he won an award for helping domestic violence victims.