Courthouse parking wars get political

That’s the finding of a more than six-week investigation by Vermont News First that included multiple interviews and almost 200 pages of documents provided by six state offices in response to requests for public records.

The towing incident is the latest in an ongoing statewide spat that developed when George dismissed two murder charges and two attempted murder charges in Chittenden County on May 31, 2019. The three defendants each said they would use an insanity defense, and George indicated she believed she would be unable to successfully fight the insanity defenses in each case.

Gov. Phil Scott asked then-attorney general T.J. Donovan to make his own independent review of each of the three cases dismissed by George. Donovan later refiled the charges against all three defendants.

The Vermont AG’s office has obtained convictions in two cases — Veronica Lewis and Aita Gurung — with the third prosecution still pending. After the three dismissals by George, then-U.S. Attorney Christina Nolan also secured a criminal conviction in one of the cases. Nolan overcame the insanity claim in a gun possession charge against Lewis.

At the time, George said she took personal offense that the governor made the request, indicating, too, she was also unhappy that Donovan, whose office has the same jurisdiction to prosecute crimes, would even look at the cases.

George said she thought the actions of both Scott and Donovan were political. The governor, who maintains a primary purpose of government is public safety, said he just wanted a second look at three Vermont cases that he considered among the most serious in recent times.

The dismissals by George also came nine days after she and veteran deputy prosecutor Susan Hardin deflated an insanity defense used during the high-profile trial of Steven Bourgoin, 38, of Williston on five counts of second-degree murder for a wrong-way fiery crash that killed five teens on Interstate 89.

Repeated attempts to reach George in recent weeks for comments were unsuccessful. She finally responded Friday afternoon that she was tied up in court all afternoon. George said a timeline included in the public records disclosure told the story.

Parking wars

In the most recent homicide case, Aita Gurung, 39, was charged with the brutal killing of his wife Yogeswari Khadka, 32, and the attempted murder of his mother-in-law, Thulsa Rimal, 54, at their Hyde Street home on Oct. 12, 2017.

As the trial approached, at least by Sept. 20, the AG’s Office had contacted Vermont Building and General Services, which oversees the operations at state facilities, about securing temporary parking and office space at the Edward J. Costello Courthouse.

Domenica Padula, chief of the AG’s criminal division, and William McSalis, director of BGS Safety & Security, agreed the state prosecutors could get four parking spaces in the underground garage at the courthouse.

McSalis noted there was plenty of parking and that some state workers with assigned spaces at the Costello courthouse still were working remotely.

Up to four women from the AG’s Office would be working late into the night after the trial ended each weekday afternoon. They did not want to have to try to carry evidence, legal papers and other items along dark Burlington streets their respective vehicles, which would be left in random parking spots in the city.

As the Gurung trial commenced, George began a personal effort to tow at least one vehicle after somebody parked in a spot designated for Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Sally Adams, records show.

George asked BGS about towing the vehicle. She also asked the Chittenden County Sheriff’s Department about towing, and she also asked the Court Clerk’s Office, according to interviews.

Nobody was willing to help George have the vehicle towed, in part because they said they did not have authority. They stated they believed it was unwarranted, and there were empty spaces available in the garage.

As the flap began to develop, McSalis wrote in an email to his bosses, “Sarah George is trying to tow a car parking in one of her staff’s spots at 32 Cherry. Court security told her she (can’t) do that, and they don’t intend to let the tow truck into the garage to allow it to happen,” McSalis wrote.

As the incident continued to develop that day, McSalis wrote the immediate plan was for an employee to send information about the car so the owner could be identified and asked why it was parked in the spot.

“The car may belong to the AG’s team, but maybe not,” he said.

McSalis, a retired FBI special agent, then told his bosses his email was, “Just a heads up because this can turn ugly(er) fast,” he wrote.

In a follow-up email, McSalis noted, George was still fired up. “Most of her staff’s spots are empty right now, but she still wants to tow it.”

An email exchange between BGS and the AG’s office in September had identified four people by name that would be using the temporary parking: Assistant Attorneys General Rose Kennedy and Sophie Stratton, the primary prosecutors on the case, Armina Medic, the AG’s victim advocate and Padula.

By coincidence, two of the four had worked at the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s office at the courthouse. Kennedy had been a deputy prosecutor before later moving to the Rutland County State’s Attorney’s office and eventually voters elected her to head the office.

Medic had been a longtime victim advocate in the Chittenden County office for Donovan and George, before moving to the AGs office in Montpelier.

The underground parking section in question has 38 marked spots used by the court staff, state’s attorney’s office, the corrections department and the buildings division, according to a diagram provided by the state. The spots are part of the original portion of the courthouse.

There is a second parking section that was added when the original courthouse building was expanded from Pearl Street south to Cherry Street.

The only way cars can get into the restricted underground parking areas is to have a specially issued electronic badge from BGS to open the garage door, or to buzz the security desk and ask the guard to open it remotely.

BGS Commissioner Jennifer Fitch in an email to Annie Noonan of the Vermont State’s Attorney’s and Sheriff’s Department stated, “we’ve relayed to our team that we have support and concurrence from your office that Sarah does not have the right to tow vehicles from state grounds.”

Fitch adds, “Anything else you can do on your end to bring resolution to this matter is greatly appreciated.”

George had tried earlier to cut BGS, which is responsible for the parking spots and building use, out of the discussion when dealing with Padula.

“I’m not sure why a request for parking in our garage went through the central office rather than directly to us — but wanted to reach out to start over,” George said in an email to Padula.

“I’m cutting them out of the conversation and asking you directly how many spots you need and for how long?” George asked Padula on Oct. 6.

“We don’t have spots available in our garage as they are all used by folks who drive to work, but we might have two in the 108 Cherry parking garage that we can offer,” George wrote.

It was unclear how George was offering the two spots, when BGS controls the space.

George’s claim of no available spots was in sharp contrast to the four spots that were assigned to the AG in September by BGS.

Part 2

Assistant Attorney General Cindy Maguire sent a note to then-attorney general Susanne Young on Oct. 29, that “yesterday we received a communication from the SA banning us from the parking garage. It is an unnecessary point of stress and honestly feels vindictive,” wrote Maguire, who is assigned to the Department for Children and Families.

“Any help from above would be greatly appreciated. And apologies for bothering you such a seemingly trivial matter,” Maguire told Young.

Maguire had noted in a separate email to the attorney general that there was plenty of space available for parking in the garage. It appeared that many from the office of the State’s Attorney were working from home.

“For what it is worth on any given day there are 6-8 SA spaces open. They are on a hybrid schedule, so there is ample parking open. Any help appreciated,” said Maguire, a former Chittenden County deputy prosecutor.

John Campbell, executive director of the State’s Attorneys & Sheriffs, was among those offering apologies. He said he was sorry Commissioner Fitch and BGS “for having to deal with a problem that I thought had been resolved. Just to be clear, our department absolutely supports the temporary allocation of parking spots to the Attorney General’s Office for use by its prosecutors who are currently trying the Gurung case.”

“Further I find it odd that our Chittenden County Office has raised the issue again because the four spots are clearly marked as ‘Reserved Parking for Attorney General Office Only.’ Once again, I’m sorry that your folks had to waste their time dealing with such a trivial matter,” Campbell wrote.

Included in the records produced on Dec. 15 by the State’s Attorneys & Sheriffs is an unsigned, undated memo that appears to provide a different assessment from the day-to-day emails written at the time. The memo was submitted from Sarah George’s office.

The memo from George’s office states that on the second day of vehicles being parked in the wrong spots, a note was left indicating that future violations would mean vehicles would be towed. Yet the emails from the day before from people that actually control the garage and the parking had made clear that no towing would take place.

The handwritten note left on the offending vehicle did not leave a name or phone number for the driver to reach out and have a conversation.

A copy of the note was turned over as part of the public records request. It states, “You are parked in a spot reserved for State’s Attorneys employees. You may not park here.

Please do not do it anymore or you will have your vehicle towed.”

It was signed “SAS” apparently trying to indicate the central office of the State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs, which is known within state government as SAS.

Campbell said nobody in his office left the note and nobody was authorized to sign it that way.

The Attorney General’s Office sought an extension on the four spaces “because of court proceedings on the horizon” in Burlington for the staff.

Padula in an email to McSalis on Dec. 8 asked about possible permanent parking spots being allocated to the AGs office at the Burlington courthouse.

“We have some expected appearances next week and any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated!” Padula wrote.

McSalis responded with a diagram of newly assigned spots for the AG’s Office at 32 Cherry St.

“The Judicial Security Officers at the Courthouse can help you find them,” he said. McSalis said there would be some rudimentary signage to start and permanent signs eventually.