Montpelier
The governor weighed in on the pending criminal case in a strongly worded statement issued late on Friday afternoon, hours after receiving a letter from the area’s top school official beseeching Scott to “take immediate action to protect the children in our schools.”
“Based on the evidence in the public record, it is clear the individual intended and still intends to carry out a horrific crime,” Scott said in the statement. “I’ve heard from the school’s superintendent as well as the Rutland County legislative delegation on the fear and frustration the community is feeling, and I share that frustration and concern.”
“I’m appalled,” Scott added, “by Mr. Sawyer’s potential release and I’ve instructed the Department of Public Safety and all agencies to do everything they can to assist the Rutland County State’s Attorney in holding this individual accountable, help the Legislature close any loopholes in the law his defense attorneys exploit, and support the school and the community with additional law enforcement resources.”
A three-justice panel of the state’s highest court issued a ruling this week that says simply planning to commit a crime doesn’t meet the needed standard for making an attempt under Vermont case law.
As a result, Sawyer may soon go free.
That’s because all four charges against him, including attempted aggravated murder and attempted first-degree murder, all involve proving the element of an attempt, which the high court ruled had not been reached in this case.
As a result, Sawyer can no longer continue to be held without bail and his attorneys have filed a motion to immediately dismiss the charges.
On Thursday, Rutland County State’s Attorney Rose Kennedy obtained an extreme risk protection order against Sawyer, the first such order under a law that was signed into law by the governor a day earlier.
The temporary order allows law enforcement to seize any weapons Sawyer may have following his possible release from jail, and a hearing has been set for April 25 to allow prosecutors to extend that order for six months.
“(Sawyer) shall not purchase, possess or receive a dangerous weapon, effective immediately,” the two-page order stated.
Sawyer does not plan to contest the order, his attorneys said on Friday.
The Sawyer case has had a strong effect on Scott.
It was the affidavit explaining the teenager’s arrest, the governor has said, that led him to shift his stance on the need for new gun legislation, which also required Scott going back on a campaign promise not to pass new gun laws.