By Guy Page
Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George’s statement calling the November 25 shooting of three Palestinian men in Burlington a “hateful act” may have violated Vermont’s code of conduct for prosecutors, a vocal critic of George’s said.
That code requires prosecutors to “refrain from making extrajudicial comments that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused.” But Alan Zeltserman said that’s what George did when she accused the alleged shooter of “a hateful act.”
Zeltserman is the brother of Amy FitzGerald, whose murderer, husband Gregory FitzGerald was sentenced to life without parole. This September FitzGerald was denied parole despite an effort by George to secure a post-conviction change of sentence. George has publicly opposed sentences of life without parole. Due in part to testimony by Zeltserman, a retired attorney, the Vermont Parole Board denied parole this September.
In an email this morning, Zeltserman took issue with part of a statement made by George at a press conference following the arrest of Jason Eaton, 48, for the shooting:
“And although we do not yet have evidence to support that this was a hate crime enhancement, I want to be clear that there is no question that this was a hateful act.”
“Concerning Sarah George’s “hateful act” comments, you may want to look at Vermont Rules Of Professional Conduct Rule 3.8(f) — Special Responsibilities Of A Prosecutor,” Zeltserman wrote to VDC. He then quoted:
“The prosecutor in a criminal case shall: . . . (f) except for statements that are necessary to inform the public of the nature and extent of the prosecutor’s action and that serve a legitimate law enforcement purpose, refrain from making extrajudicial comments that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused and exercise reasonable care to prevent investigators, law enforcement personnel, employees or other persons assisting or associated with the prosecutor in a criminal case who are in the employment or under the control of the prosecutor from making an extrajudicial statement that the prosecutor would be prohibited from making under Rule 3.6 or this rule.
“See also, Bar Counsel Michael Kennedy’s December 14, 2018 blog discussing the rule, ‘Lesson from a disbarred prosecutor: don’t post that.’
“For whatever reason, the press in Vermont keeps on giving Sarah George a pass on this sort of conduct. For example, she made a number of head turning comments when discussing the Giancarlo DiGenova case in March.”
DiGenova, a state trooper, pleaded innocent in March to removing a Rolex watch from an evidence room. George said he had betrayed the public trust and should never work as a police officer in Vermont again.
VDC’s efforts to contact George’s office for comment earlier this week resulted in a returned email saying it had been “blocked.” The single phone number for the Chittenden County SA office goes to a pandemic-era recording which says most of the staff work from home and that messages are checked once a day. The call has not been returned.