VT - Wrong-Way Crash Kills Five, Chittenden County, Williston, 8 Oct 2016 *Arrest*

https://vtdigger.org/2019/05/21/jury-deliberations-underway-bourgoin-murder-trial/
Jury in Bourgoin murder trial deliberates through dinner, but no verdict on first day
May 21 2019
BURLINGTON — A jury deliberating in the murder trial of Steven Bourgoin went home from the courthouse Tuesday evening without reaching a verdict, and will return Wednesday morning to continue weighing the case.
[...]
“We received a note from the jury that they are done for the evening,” Judge Kevin Griffin told the attorneys in the case at 7:42 p.m. Tuesday.

The jury is expected to return the courthouse in Burlington at 8:45 a.m. Wednesday and begin its second day of deliberations.
[...]
The jury emerged from its deliberations back into the courtroom at 4:49 p.m. Tuesday, asking for a playback of Dr. Reena Kapoor’s testimony. Kapoor, a forensic psychiatrist of the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut.

Specifically, the jury asked to hear the roughly cross-examination of Kapoor during the trial last week by Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George, the prosecutor.

Kapoor had initially been a prosecution expert, but was dropped after she determined that Bourgoin was insane at the time of the crash. Kapoor diagnosed Bourgoin with a personality disorder, with traits of borderline personality disorder and paranoid personality disorder.
[...]
After listening back to Kapoor’s testimony, the jury ordered dinner and said they wanted to continue deliberating into the evening. Four pizzas and boxed salads were delivered at about 6 p.m.
[...]
There was a delay at the start of proceedings Tuesday as the attorneys in the case had an extended meeting at the bench with the judge and later two of the jurors came out and joined the meeting, appearing to be questioned.

Judge Griffin said only that it was a “juror issue.” After about 10 more minutes of discussion with the attorneys at the bench, the conference concluded.

Outside the courtroom late Tuesday morning, Robert Katims, Bourgoin’s attorney, explained that one of the jurors had taken the song “Stuck in the Middle with You,” by the band Stealers Wheel and replaced the lyrics, turning it into “Stuck on This Jury with You.”

Apparently, Katims said, that juror had brought his ukulele to the court Monday, and played that song. “They were just passing the time,” he said, “and it had nothing to with any of the evidence and there wasn’t any discussion about the case.”
 
Jury: Bourgoin guilty of wrong-way murders
Updated: Wed 1:48 PM, May 22, 2019

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) A 12-member jury has found Steven Bourgoin, 38, guilty of second-degree murder on all counts in the 2016 wrong-way crash that killed five Mad River Valley teens.

After closing arguments were delivered Monday, it took the 12-member jury about 11 hours come back with a verdict.
[...]
Bourgoin faces a maximum sentence of life without parole.
 
https://vtdigger.org/2019/05/23/jur...ys-panel-was-split-at-start-of-deliberations/
Juror in Bourgoin case says panel was split at start of deliberations
May 23 2019, 8:57 PM
There was one holdout juror in the Steven Bourgoin murder trial, but that person eventually agreed with the rest of the panel that found the former Williston man was sane when he drove his pickup truck the wrong way on the interstate and killed five central Vermont teens.

That’s according to a different juror who spoke Thursday on the condition that her name not be used. She provided a glimpse of the deliberations that took place in secret for about 12 hours over parts of two days this week in a room outside a third-floor Burlington courtroom.
[...]
“At first, it seemed like everyone had a lot to say,” the juror said of her fellow panel members. “We finally did just provide each other with time to just look at notes and figure out if we had any burning questions and what might answer them.”

They didn’t vote right away, the juror said.

There were several panel members who appeared to be leaning toward accepting the insanity defense raised by Bourgoin’s lawyers.

“I don’t know exactly what the numbers were,” the juror said when asked about the early split during the deliberations between the panel on the matter of Bourgoin’s sanity.

She said there were jury members who had to be convinced or swayed that Bourgoin was sane at the time of the crash.

The juror said, for her, it came down to the definition of insanity provided during the jury instructions.

For the insanity defense, Bourgoin had to prove “by a preponderance of the evidence,” or more likely than not, that he suffered from a “mental disease or defect” at the time of the crash.

Also, the defense had to prove, according to the instructions, that the “mental disease or defect rendered (Bourgoin) incapable of appreciating the criminality of the alleged offenses, or that he was incapable of conforming his conduct to the requirements of the law, at the time of the alleged offenses.”

For her, the juror said, those last two prongs were key. She said in the end she believed that Bourgoin could appreciate the criminality of his actions and was capable of conforming his conduct to the law.

At a point late in the deliberations, the juror added, a vote was taken regarding insanity and one of the 12 panel members still believed Bourgoin was insane.

After further discussion on the definitions provided in the instruction, the juror said, the holdout came to side with the rest of the panel for the unanimous decision.
[...]

What’s next
Now that the jury has returned guilty verdicts on five murder counts and other charges against Bourgoin, the process of sentencing and setting the table for his appeal moves to the forefront.

Legal experts say they expect it will be several months before he is sentenced, and as long as three years for his appeal to the Vermont Supreme Court to be heard and an opinion issued whether the jury’s convictions will stand.
[...]
In this case, each charge of second-degree murder carries a sentence of 20 years to life. If Bourgoin received that sentence on each charge, consecutively, he would receive a prison term of 100 years to life.

But if Bourgoin is sentenced to 20 years to life on each of the five murder charges, to be serve concurrently, his sentence would be 20 years to life.
[...]
 
Motion filed requesting new trial for Steven Bourgoin
Updated: 9:51 PM EDT Jul 29, 2019
BURLINGTON, Vt. —

According to court documents obtained by NBC5 News on Monday, the attorney for Steven Bourgoin wants a new trial for his client.

[...]
Documentation by Vermont Superior Court shows his lawyer, Robert Katims, filed a motion for a new trial on June 24. The documentation states the motion is under seal.

On July 19, the Chittenden County State Attorney's Office filed a response. That motion is also under seal, according to court paperwork.

There is an additional motion on file, requesting Judge Kevin Griffin unseal the motions filed regarding the requested new trial. The paperwork does not disclose who filed the July 26 motion.

The judge responded July 29, writing, "Denied -- The matter is under advisement and the court expects to issue rulings on all issues raised within a week of this entry order."

Bourgoin's sentencing is currently scheduled for August 26 and 27.

Bourgoin attorneys seek new trial

Tuesday, July 30, 2019
BURLINGTON — The defense lawyers for Steven D. Bourgoin, convicted in May on five counts of homicide for a horrific fiery crash in Williston that killed 5 Central Vermont teens, has asked in a secret motion to have a new trial.

The reason for both the new trial request and for the unusual sealing are unknown because the defense motion was filed under seal in Vermont Superior Court in Burlington.
[...]
The Times Argus, Rutland Herald and the Stowe Newspaper Group filed a request Friday afternoon with the criminal court asking Griffin to make the Bourgoin documents public.

The court has set aside two days in late August for the sentencing of Bourgoin, 38, of Williston. The hearings on Aug. 26 and 27 are scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m.
[...]
 

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