By Guy Page
At a court hearing this week, Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George said she “wholeheartedly concurs” with the gag order the lawyer for serial offender Michael Reynolds seeks to impose on the Burlington Police Department.
George was giving the thumbs-uip to lawyer Josh O’Hara’s motion to stop Burlington Police from commenting on the case of Michael Reynolds, who has had 1,850 police incidents resulting in more than 50 convictions in the last 15 years. Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad has publicly called for Reynolds to be sentenced as a habitual offender, which carries a life sentence.
However, George herself made similar, possibly prejudicial remarks in a high-profile court case as recently as November, 2023.
As reported in the November 29, 2023 Vermont Daily Chronicle, George called the shooting of Palestinian men on North Prospect Street, Burlington “a hateful act” – despite the lack of evidence that the suspect had shot the men with their ethnicity in mind. VDC wrote then:
“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.”
That code requires prosecutors to ‘refrain from making extrajudicial comments that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused.’
Reynolds, meanwhile, has been talking freely to the press about what he would like: ““I need methadone, I need to have transportation, I need to have a motel room right now,” Reynolds told WCAX on Tuesday.