District court in Barre stumped by unusual case
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By Daphne Larkin Times Argus Staff - Published: March 29, 2008
BARRE – Officials at Vermont District Court were stumped Friday as they struggled to deal with a developmentally disabled man who is deaf who was brought to the court to be charged with simple assault.
Dhundup Tsering, 22, a Tibetan man who has been under the care of a Waterbury family since he was 13 years old, was arrested Thursday night two times – once for operating a vehicle without the owner's consent, and a second time for simple assault.
Tsering spent the night at Dale Correctional Facility on $200 bail and was brought to court in the late morning to be charged for allegedly punching his foster father in the face four times Thursday night.
By approximately 4 p.m., Tsering was released by the court into the custody of a Washington County Mental Health worker. The court could not officially arraign Tsering because the only really effective interpreters for him are his foster parents. The certified American Sign Language interpreter was out of town, so Tsering was re-cited to appear on Tuesday when she can be present.
"I'm going to vacate bail; we cannot arraign him without a signer," said District Court Judge Patricia Zimmerman.
The court was at a loss as to how to communicate with Tsering, who was described by his foster mother as functioning at the level of a 7-year-old. She said Tsering uses a version of American Sign Language, and that the certified interpreter has historically deferred to her and her husband to facilitate understanding.
Tsering's foster mother, Joan Pellerin, was not at court Friday, and the family was not prepared to take him back.
In a phone interview she said Tsering came to Vermont from Tibet with his mother when he was 12.
"He was our foster son until he aged out of the system and now we're considered home providers," Pellerin said.
Pellerin is a nationally certified America Sign Language interpreter. Her husband, Rene Pellerin, is deaf and also an ASL interpreter.
According to the police affidavit, Vermont State Police Trooper Daniel Schneider responded to the Pellerin residence around 11:35 p.m. Thursday night for a domestic assault.
Schneider wrote that the Pellerins' daughter, Nicole Pellerin, had been picked Tsering up from the Waterbury Police Department, after he was arrested for operating a vehicle without the owner's consent.
Joan Pellerin declined to give details about that incident, but confirmed that Tsering was cited into court for that offense.
According to the affidavit, when Tsering arrived home he refused to get out of the car.
"Nicole (Pellerin) advised Rene pushed Tsering and then Tsering struck Rene three times in the face with a closed fist," according to the affidavit. "Nicole advised she did not know what Rene and Tsering were signing to each other."
Tsering was arrested and taken to the Middlesex Barracks for processing.
Rene Pellerin told the trooper he "tapped Tsering on the shoulder," and Schneider wrote that Tsering was "extremely emotional … yelling and jumping when he was speaking to (Joan Pellerin)."
"Tsering advised he wanted to be arrested because he did something wrong," Schneider wrote in the affidavit. "Tsering advised he had struck Rene three times because Rene was trying to make him do something he did not want to do."
According to Zimmerman, Schneider, who telephoned her at 3:30 a.m. regarding Tsering, made "extraordinary efforts to resolve the case without setting bail, so that's why I set bail low so his caretakers could get him."
"The family said he's a risk of flight because even though he doesn't have a license he does have (a charge of) operating without the owner's consent," said Deputy State's Attorney Megan Campbell. "And he crawled out of a window to get away from them."
"We're going to give him a citation," Zimmerman said. "What that's going to mean to him, I don't know."
A Washington County Mental Health worker said Tsering will stay at an emergency bed until they figure out what to do with him. According to court testimony, there was no emergency bed available for Tsering on Thursday night, which is why he was lodged at Dale.
Tsering was not brought into the courtroom because Public Defender Maggie Vincent felt that he would not even understand why he was there or who she was, since they had never met.
Tsering sees his mother monthly and has a legal guardian, according to Joan Pellerin, and he has a Washington County Mental Health caseworker.
Joan Pellerin said her family's intention is to take Tsering back after the weekend, but that they wanted him to have some consequences for his actions. She said he has never gotten violent like this before.
"We definitely care for him," Joan Pellerin said. "He's been here a long time."
Contact Daphne Larkin at (802) 479-0191 ext.1171 or daphne.larkin@timesargus.com.
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