VT - Wrong-Way Crash Kills Five, Chittenden County, Williston, 8 Oct 2016 *Arrest*
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Just now catching up on this case. I did not realize it was an insanity defense case.
GUILTY verdict two weeks ago in a FL insanity defense case where 5 expert medical witnesses testified of their opinion whether the defendant was insane at the time of the murder. 3 said insane; 2 said not insane. Jury verdict - Guilty of 1st degree murder.
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/fl-phoebe-jonchuck-5-dropped-from-60-bridge-st-petersburg-8-jan-2015.267794/
https://vtdigger.org/2018/03/16/insanity-defense-driver-car-crash-killed-five-teens/
Insanity defense for driver of car in crash that killed five teens
Mar 16 2018
[...]
Bourgoin’s attorney, Robert Katims, filed notice of the insanity defense in Chittenden Superior Court . . .
[...]
It was reported at the time of the 2016 accident that Bourgoin had mental health issues that had not been addressed. VTDigger reported at the time that Bourgoin had spent the morning before the crash in and out of the emergency room.
https://www.rutlandherald.com/news/local/bourgoin-testimony-delayed-jury-pick-on-monday/article_4c38104f-646a-509b-ad2f-737c054b6ca5.html
Bourgoin testimony delayed; jury pick on Monday
Apr 26, 2019
[...]
Bourgoin’s defense team maintains he was insane at the time of the crash. Both the psychiatrist in Massachusetts retained by the defense and the psychiatrist in Massachusetts hired by the prosecution agree he was insane at the time, court records show.
The prosecution now hopes to use a third doctor to try to overcome those findings.
[...]
GUILTY verdict two weeks ago in a FL insanity defense case where 5 expert medical witnesses testified of their opinion whether the defendant was insane at the time of the murder. 3 said insane; 2 said not insane. Jury verdict - Guilty of 1st degree murder.
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/fl-phoebe-jonchuck-5-dropped-from-60-bridge-st-petersburg-8-jan-2015.267794/
https://vtdigger.org/2018/03/16/insanity-defense-driver-car-crash-killed-five-teens/
Insanity defense for driver of car in crash that killed five teens
Mar 16 2018
[...]
Bourgoin’s attorney, Robert Katims, filed notice of the insanity defense in Chittenden Superior Court . . .
[...]
It was reported at the time of the 2016 accident that Bourgoin had mental health issues that had not been addressed. VTDigger reported at the time that Bourgoin had spent the morning before the crash in and out of the emergency room.
https://www.rutlandherald.com/news/local/bourgoin-testimony-delayed-jury-pick-on-monday/article_4c38104f-646a-509b-ad2f-737c054b6ca5.html
Bourgoin testimony delayed; jury pick on Monday
Apr 26, 2019
[...]
Bourgoin’s defense team maintains he was insane at the time of the crash. Both the psychiatrist in Massachusetts retained by the defense and the psychiatrist in Massachusetts hired by the prosecution agree he was insane at the time, court records show.
The prosecution now hopes to use a third doctor to try to overcome those findings.
[...]
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The Farm
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Just an update here.
https://vtdigger.org/2019/05/17/bat...oins-mental-state-in-murder-trials-last-days/
https://vtdigger.org/2019/05/17/bat...oins-mental-state-in-murder-trials-last-days/
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Steven Bourgoin visited the UVM Medical Center hours before a fatal crash. This is what happened.
Published 5:31 p.m. ET May 14, 2019 | Updated 7:48 a.m. ET May 15, 2019
The morning before a crash that killed five Mad River Valley teenagers, the man charged in their killings visited the University of Vermont Medical Center at least three times within two-and-a-half hours.
That fact has been known since just after the crash on Oct. 8, 2016. But, Tuesday was the first time the public has gotten greater clarity on what occurred during those three visits through testimony from the people who encountered Steven Bourgoin, 38, of Williston.
[...]
Witnesses say Bourgoin was first seen in the hospital around 8:30 a.m.
Registered nurse Margaret McLaren said she encountered Bourgoin in a typically secure area of the hospital where administrative offices are located.
[...]
At around 9:40 a.m., Bourgoin returned to the hospital. This time, he spoke to a person at the Emergency Department's reception desk to be registered as a patient. He was coded in as a "crisis" patient.
[...]
When MacNee asked Bourgoin what had brought him to the hospital, he said "he was here for physical rest," she said. They also spoke about the different stresses in his life, such as his issues with his ex-fiancee and his anticipating starting a new job.
"He said he had come to the hospital to be in a safe place because of those ongoing psycho-social stressors in his life," MacNee said.
[...]
Published 5:31 p.m. ET May 14, 2019 | Updated 7:48 a.m. ET May 15, 2019
The morning before a crash that killed five Mad River Valley teenagers, the man charged in their killings visited the University of Vermont Medical Center at least three times within two-and-a-half hours.
That fact has been known since just after the crash on Oct. 8, 2016. But, Tuesday was the first time the public has gotten greater clarity on what occurred during those three visits through testimony from the people who encountered Steven Bourgoin, 38, of Williston.
[...]
Witnesses say Bourgoin was first seen in the hospital around 8:30 a.m.
Registered nurse Margaret McLaren said she encountered Bourgoin in a typically secure area of the hospital where administrative offices are located.
[...]
At around 9:40 a.m., Bourgoin returned to the hospital. This time, he spoke to a person at the Emergency Department's reception desk to be registered as a patient. He was coded in as a "crisis" patient.
[...]
When MacNee asked Bourgoin what had brought him to the hospital, he said "he was here for physical rest," she said. They also spoke about the different stresses in his life, such as his issues with his ex-fiancee and his anticipating starting a new job.
"He said he had come to the hospital to be in a safe place because of those ongoing psycho-social stressors in his life," MacNee said.
[...]
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Testimony of 3 forensic psychiatrists - 2 say insane; 1 says not insane.
https://vtdigger.org/2019/05/17/bat...oins-mental-state-in-murder-trials-last-days/
May 17 2019
BURLINGTON — A forensic psychiatrist testified Friday that Steven Bourgoin was not insane when he drove the wrong way on the interstate and killed five teenagers, rebutting two experts for the defense who told the jury the opposite earlier in the murder trial.
Dr. Paul Cotton, a Burlington-based forensic psychiatrist who is contracted with the state Department of Mental Health to conduct forensic psychiatrist exams, was called to the stand by the prosecution on the 10th day of the trial.
[...]
Earlier this week, Dr. David Rosmarin, a forensic psychiatrist at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, and hired by the defense, testified. He told the jury Bourgoin was insane at the time of the crash.
Dr. Reena Kapoor, a forensic psychiatrist at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, also testified this week. Kapoor, initially hired by the prosecution and later dropped, was called by the defense.
Kapoor, like Rosmarin, told jurors that she concluded Bourgoin was insane at the time of the crash, diagnosing him with a personality disorder, with traits of borderline personality disorder and paranoid personality disorder.
[...]
The prosecution retained Cotton as an expert after it dropped Kapoor. That change was made after the prosecution learned Kapoor had concluded that Bourgoin was insane at the time of the crash.
[...]
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Jurors hear closing arguments in deadly wrong-way crash trial
Updated: Mon 7:07 PM, May 20, 2019
BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) It's now up to the jury to decide if Steven Bourgoin is guilty of murdering five teens or not guilty by reason of insanity.
After two-plus weeks of testimony, the prosecution and defense gave their closing arguments late Monday afternoon.
[...]
Dr. Paul Cotton is a forensic psychiatrist called by the state who examined Bourgoin weeks after the crash. He testified Friday that he believes Bourgoin was not insane on the night of Oct. 8, 2016, when he drove the wrong way on I-89 in Williston.
Monday morning, the defense got to cross-examine Cotton to try to highlight inconsistencies in his testimony. The defense questioned Cotton about a comment in a draft of his report that said Bourgoin "may have had an acute psychotic disorder at the time of the alleged offense." Cotton said that was a note made during the exam but not a final determination.
"Then I went back and looked at the data again. And I thought about the examination again. And I thought about the information that I had about Mr. Bourgoin. And I said to myself, this does not fit with a disorder of thought," Cotton said.
The defense also questioned the doctor about what medical records he had seen on Bourgoin prior to his examination and about his methods for the examination, including why he didn't ask to see more materials. Cotton defended his approach.
Bourgoin told the judge on Monday he would not testify at the trial.
Now, the judge did not hand the case to the jury Monday, citing a long day of testimony and the complicated instructions. But jurors will get the case first thing Tuesday.
Updated: Mon 7:07 PM, May 20, 2019
BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) It's now up to the jury to decide if Steven Bourgoin is guilty of murdering five teens or not guilty by reason of insanity.
After two-plus weeks of testimony, the prosecution and defense gave their closing arguments late Monday afternoon.
[...]
Dr. Paul Cotton is a forensic psychiatrist called by the state who examined Bourgoin weeks after the crash. He testified Friday that he believes Bourgoin was not insane on the night of Oct. 8, 2016, when he drove the wrong way on I-89 in Williston.
Monday morning, the defense got to cross-examine Cotton to try to highlight inconsistencies in his testimony. The defense questioned Cotton about a comment in a draft of his report that said Bourgoin "may have had an acute psychotic disorder at the time of the alleged offense." Cotton said that was a note made during the exam but not a final determination.
"Then I went back and looked at the data again. And I thought about the examination again. And I thought about the information that I had about Mr. Bourgoin. And I said to myself, this does not fit with a disorder of thought," Cotton said.
The defense also questioned the doctor about what medical records he had seen on Bourgoin prior to his examination and about his methods for the examination, including why he didn't ask to see more materials. Cotton defended his approach.
Bourgoin told the judge on Monday he would not testify at the trial.
Now, the judge did not hand the case to the jury Monday, citing a long day of testimony and the complicated instructions. But jurors will get the case first thing Tuesday.
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https://vtdigger.org/2019/05/20/bou...g-responsibility-psychotic-delusions-mission/
Bourgoin: A blame-shifter shirking responsibility or psychotic with delusions of a mission?
May 20 2019, 9:07 PM
BURLINGTON — A prosecutor painted a picture of Steven Bourgoin as a conniving man who minimizes his out-of-control actions, while his attorney countered that a psychotic episode prompted his actions that led to a wrong-way crash that killed five teens.
A jury is expected to start deliberating Tuesday morning whether Bourgoin should be convicted of five counts of murder in that fatal crash late on the night of Oct. 8, 2016, or lesser charges, or found not guilty by reason of insanity.
[...]
Sane or not?
Bourgoin’s attorneys have contended that he was insane at the time of the crash, pointing to defense witnesses who testified the 38-year-old believed he was on a top-secret government mission, getting messages through devices, such as his computer and his pickup truck’s radio.
“He’s confused, he’s psychotic, he’s delusional,” Katims said in his closing argument to the jury Monday afternoon, later adding, “He’s saying things are speaking to him.”
Prosecutors have contested the insanity defense.
They suggest Bourgoin was in a rage, possibly suicidal. They say he was upset over his finances and a child-custody dispute with his ex-girlfriend, and after the crash may have been feigning symptoms of a mental disease.
[...]
Proving insanity
To prove insanity, the defense needs to establish that Bourgoin was insane by a preponderance of the evidence, according to Vermont law.
“A person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease or defect he or she lacks adequate capacity either to appreciate the criminality of his or her conduct or to conform his or her conduct to the requirements of law,” the state statute reads.
Under the law, the terms “mental disease or defect” includes “congenital and traumatic mental conditions” as well as disease.
If the jury does find Bourgoin insane, the court can decide whether he should remain in custody.
[...]
Bourgoin: A blame-shifter shirking responsibility or psychotic with delusions of a mission?
May 20 2019, 9:07 PM
BURLINGTON — A prosecutor painted a picture of Steven Bourgoin as a conniving man who minimizes his out-of-control actions, while his attorney countered that a psychotic episode prompted his actions that led to a wrong-way crash that killed five teens.
A jury is expected to start deliberating Tuesday morning whether Bourgoin should be convicted of five counts of murder in that fatal crash late on the night of Oct. 8, 2016, or lesser charges, or found not guilty by reason of insanity.
[...]
Sane or not?
Bourgoin’s attorneys have contended that he was insane at the time of the crash, pointing to defense witnesses who testified the 38-year-old believed he was on a top-secret government mission, getting messages through devices, such as his computer and his pickup truck’s radio.
“He’s confused, he’s psychotic, he’s delusional,” Katims said in his closing argument to the jury Monday afternoon, later adding, “He’s saying things are speaking to him.”
Prosecutors have contested the insanity defense.
They suggest Bourgoin was in a rage, possibly suicidal. They say he was upset over his finances and a child-custody dispute with his ex-girlfriend, and after the crash may have been feigning symptoms of a mental disease.
[...]
Proving insanity
To prove insanity, the defense needs to establish that Bourgoin was insane by a preponderance of the evidence, according to Vermont law.
“A person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease or defect he or she lacks adequate capacity either to appreciate the criminality of his or her conduct or to conform his or her conduct to the requirements of law,” the state statute reads.
Under the law, the terms “mental disease or defect” includes “congenital and traumatic mental conditions” as well as disease.
If the jury does find Bourgoin insane, the court can decide whether he should remain in custody.
[...]
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Steven Bourgoin Trial Prosecution Rebuttal Closing Argument
Law & Crime Network
Published on May 20, 2019
Law & Crime Network
Published on May 20, 2019
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Steven Bourgoin Trial Defense Rebuttal Closing Argument
Law & Crime Network
Published on May 20, 2019
Law & Crime Network
Published on May 20, 2019
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VERDICT WATCH
https://vtdigger.org/2019/05/21/jury-deliberations-underway-bourgoin-murder-trial/
Jury deliberations underway in Bourgoin murder trial
May 21 2019, 12:45 PM
BURLINGTON — A jury is now deliberating in the murder trial of Steven Bourgoin, on the 12th day after first hearing opening arguments in the case of the man accused of driving the wrong-way on Interstate 89 in Williston, striking another vehicle, killing all five teens inside.
The jury heard closing arguments from attorneys late Monday afternoon, before breaking for the night and returning to the courthouse in Burlington Tuesday morning to get the final jury instructions from Judge Kevin Griffin.
[...]
After the judge read the instructions to them over roughly an hour, the jury then began its deliberations at 11:27 a.m.
“The case is yours,” Griffin told the deliberating jurors as they walked out of the courtroom.
[...]
https://vtdigger.org/2019/05/21/jury-deliberations-underway-bourgoin-murder-trial/
Jury deliberations underway in Bourgoin murder trial
May 21 2019, 12:45 PM
BURLINGTON — A jury is now deliberating in the murder trial of Steven Bourgoin, on the 12th day after first hearing opening arguments in the case of the man accused of driving the wrong-way on Interstate 89 in Williston, striking another vehicle, killing all five teens inside.
The jury heard closing arguments from attorneys late Monday afternoon, before breaking for the night and returning to the courthouse in Burlington Tuesday morning to get the final jury instructions from Judge Kevin Griffin.
[...]
After the judge read the instructions to them over roughly an hour, the jury then began its deliberations at 11:27 a.m.
“The case is yours,” Griffin told the deliberating jurors as they walked out of the courtroom.
[...]
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With an insanity defense, Bourgoin's lawyers have to prove he was insane by a preponderance of the evidence.
https://www.wcax.com/content/news/Emotional-testimony-from-ex-fiancee-in-Steven-Bourgoin-murder-trial-509752421.html
Updated: Fri 7:06 PM, May 10, 2019
BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) Was Steven Bourgoin insane when he drove the wrong way on the interstate and crashed into a car full of teens, killing them all? That's what his lawyers say and now they have to prove it.
[...]
Bourgoin's defense is arguing he is not guilty by reason of insanity. Meaning they admit he did it but say at the time, he lacked the mental capacity to understand that his conduct was criminal.
With an insanity defense, Bourgoin's lawyers have to prove he was insane by a preponderance of the evidence. We asked legal expert Jerry O'Neill what that means.
"More likely than not. And that's what he has to show, that more likely than not, he was insane. When it comes to the underlying case, did he commit the crime, which no one really disputes that he committed the physical acts, it's beyond a reasonable doubt. But when it comes time for him to prove that he is not guilty by reason of insanity, he has to prove what I would call 51 percent," O'Neill said.
[...]
https://www.wcax.com/content/news/Emotional-testimony-from-ex-fiancee-in-Steven-Bourgoin-murder-trial-509752421.html
Updated: Fri 7:06 PM, May 10, 2019
BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) Was Steven Bourgoin insane when he drove the wrong way on the interstate and crashed into a car full of teens, killing them all? That's what his lawyers say and now they have to prove it.
[...]
Bourgoin's defense is arguing he is not guilty by reason of insanity. Meaning they admit he did it but say at the time, he lacked the mental capacity to understand that his conduct was criminal.
With an insanity defense, Bourgoin's lawyers have to prove he was insane by a preponderance of the evidence. We asked legal expert Jerry O'Neill what that means.
"More likely than not. And that's what he has to show, that more likely than not, he was insane. When it comes to the underlying case, did he commit the crime, which no one really disputes that he committed the physical acts, it's beyond a reasonable doubt. But when it comes time for him to prove that he is not guilty by reason of insanity, he has to prove what I would call 51 percent," O'Neill said.
[...]
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Jury to get case of suspect in wrong-way crash that killed 5 | WTOP
Jury deliberates in Vermont wrong-way crash that killed 5
May 21, 2019 4:42 pm
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A jury began deliberations Tuesday in the trial of a Vermont man facing murder charges in the deaths of five teenagers after he caused a head-on crash by driving the wrong way on an interstate.
Judge Kevin Griffin told the jury of eight women and four men late Tuesday morning that they could find Steven Bourgoin, 38, guilty or not guilty of second-degree murder, guilty of manslaughter or not guilty by reason of insanity.
“You are the sole judges of the evidence,” Griffin said.
[...]
Jury deliberates in Vermont wrong-way crash that killed 5
May 21, 2019 4:42 pm
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A jury began deliberations Tuesday in the trial of a Vermont man facing murder charges in the deaths of five teenagers after he caused a head-on crash by driving the wrong way on an interstate.
Judge Kevin Griffin told the jury of eight women and four men late Tuesday morning that they could find Steven Bourgoin, 38, guilty or not guilty of second-degree murder, guilty of manslaughter or not guilty by reason of insanity.
“You are the sole judges of the evidence,” Griffin said.
[...]