Jason Lawton, 34, of Fletcher, was sentenced today after pleading guilty to one misdemeanor count of simple assault.
After a contested sentencing hearing in Vermont Superior Court, Franklin Criminal Division, Lawton was sentenced to serve three to six months in jail.
In November of 2019, Lawton, formerly a sergeant with the St. Albans Police Department, was charged after striking an individual who was in his custody at the St. Albans Police Department and handcuffed in a holding cell.
Lawton was subsequently terminated from the St. Albans Police Department.
Simple assault is a misdemeanor carrying a maximum penalty of not more than one year and a fine of $1,000 or both.
At the sentencing hearing, the Attorney General’s Office requested a six-month term of incarceration.
The Court, Judge Martin Maley presiding, ordered Mr. Lawton to self-report to the Northwest State Correctional Facility by January 14, 2023. Republished from Newport Dispatch.
Categories: Crime
Good. Only a Coward hits a woman
I wonder if this really happened. If so, he committed a criminal act.
No problem with him being fired and convicted of a crime. My issue is jail time. He shouldn’t be treated any differently that any other convicted criminal in Vermont. That equals no jail time for a misdemeanor assault.
Von Simmonds recently stabbed a man to death on church street. The same mr. Simmonds was previously involved in a gun fight at Simon’s in Burlington with two other individuals and has a lengthy criminal history. While i do not condone mr. Lawton’s actions, the fact that he’s facing jail time for punching at someone while mr. Simmonds was free shortly after attempting to shoot someone highlights a double standard. And where there’s a double standard, there’s a hidden agenda, everytime.
assaulting someone as a police officer is a harsher crime. he punched someone that was detained, in police custody. That is a violation of the law. Cops are supposed to be held to a higher standard. I’d rather have no cops than shitty ones who break the law.