Derek Brouwer ©️ Seven Days
Jason Eaton
The man accused of shooting three college students of Palestinian descent in Burlington last year wants to fire the public defenders who have been representing him.
But Jason Eaton, who faces three counts of attempted murder, has yet to say why. Instead, Eaton asked to make his case before a state judge in a private hearing that members of the public, victims, media and even prosecutors would not be able to observe.
Superior Court Judge Kevin Griffin will consider Eaton's unusual requests during an August 2 hearing.
Replacing Eaton's two court-appointed lawyers would likely delay the case just months after his attorneys told the judge that they hoped to expedite it. At the most recent hearing, in March, his attorneys said they wanted to be ready for trial by next January because Eaton wanted to resolve the allegations quickly.
Public defender Sarah Varty filed Eaton's written request for new counsel. The brief motion did not disclose his rationale; his other public defender, Peggy Jansch, declined to say what prompted it. Under Vermont law, Eaton must show "good cause" — such as incompetence or a complete breakdown in communication — to switch lawyers at this stage of court proceedings.
In a separate, subsequent filing by his attorneys, Eaton also asked that the hearing to consider his request for new counsel be conducted behind closed doors with only him, his attorneys and the judge.
"Mr. Eaton anticipates revealing information and communications that would otherwise be protected by attorney-client confidentiality," Varty wrote in the June 11 filing.
State's Attorney Sarah George "strenuously" objected in a written response. "The mere fact that this case has garnered media attention is not a justification for prohibiting the State from witnessing the hearing nor does it provide justification to conduct a closed hearing from the public," she wrote.
Griffin, in a written order on Thursday, said he would take oral arguments at the beginning of the August 2 hearing about whether to close it. The judge said he may review some evidence in private if appropriate, then issue a ruling.
On Friday,
Seven Days sought to intervene in the case and filed its own objection to Eaton's request to close the hearing. The newspaper's attorney, Matthew Byrne, wrote in a 10-page motion that state and federal courts have frequently affirmed the importance of open hearings in criminal cases except for narrow circumstances. Eaton, Byrne wrote, has not demonstrated why his request must be reviewed in secret.
"There is no basis to close the hearing," Byrne wrote.
Seven Days also asked the court to issue and explain its eventual decision in public, too.
Roughly 20 onlookers lined the gallery at Eaton's last hearing in March. Many wore kaffiyehs, the symbolic scarves that two of the victims were wearing on the November night they were shot.
As that hearing was set to begin, Eaton's attorneys successfully sought permission for him to appear in a collared shirt instead of his prison jumpsuit. Media images of Eaton in prison garb, they argued, could prejudice a future jury.
Eaton has been detained in state prison since his arrest eight months ago. He has filed several legal complaints against the Vermont Department of Corrections during that time, alleging mistreatment while incarcerated. Eaton's most recent petition states that he was unjustly placed in segregation for refusing to return to his cell, where, he said, a roommate had threatened to harm him.
Eaton is accused of shooting three young Palestinian men as they were walking on the sidewalk by his apartment near the University of Vermont campus at night. The shocking crime, which took place not long after the war in Gaza erupted, garnered international attention.
Public officials, including the prosecutor George, denounced the shooting as "hateful," but Eaton has not been charged with a hate crime. At the time of Eaton's arrest, George said her office had yet to uncover evidence of motive that would support a hate-crime enhancement.
"My assumption," Eaton's attorney Jansch said last week, "is that if there had been evidence to support a hate crime enhancement, it would have already been done."