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Political notes from Free Press staff writers Terri Hallenbeck, Sam Hemingway and Nancy Remsen


8.26.2008

 

Probation hot seat

Vermont Probation & Parole is on the hot seat in the wake of the arrest of convicted sex offender Michael Jacques, whom the department recommended for release from probation at a time when he is alleged to have been abusing a teenage girl.

The case ignited furor over just how loose is probation oversight.

Vermont's not the only one on that hot seat. This from a lawyer in New York State:

"The wife of slain New York State Trooper David Brinkerhoff, who was killed
in a blazing shootout in a Catskills farmhouse in April 2007, has filed a
lawsuit against St. Lawrence County, N.Y., and its probation department,
alleging that their negligence and lack of protocol allowed a serial probation
violator to break the terms of his supervised release and later initiate the gun
battle that cost Trooper Brinkerhoff his life.

"Barbara Brinkerhoff, widow of Trooper Brinkerhoff, alleges that the
man at the center of the shootout– a 23-year-old convicted thief with a history
of probation violations named Travis Trim – should not have been out of jail but
for a series of bungled actions by the St. Lawrence Probation Department.
Defendants include the director of the department as well as the officer
assigned to Mr. Trim.

"According to the complaint, Mr. Trim was first assigned a St. Lawrence
County probation officer in July 2005 after an arrest for larceny.
He repeatedly failed to maintain his supervised probation in the final months of
2006. Mrs. Brinkerhoff alleges that multiple lapses within the St.
Lawrence County Probation Department not only allowed him to remain free, but
also ensured that no New York law enforcement agencies were even aware that a
warrant had been issued for his arrest.

"According to the complaint, the warrant issued by a Canton, NY village
justice in December 2006 and sent to the Probation Department was – incredibly –
destroyed in a shredder upon receipt.

"Four months later, Mr. Trim was stopped by a New York State Trooper on
a road near Margaretville, the vehicle he was driving without a license
plate turned out to be stolen. He fired at the trooper, hitting his
protective vest, then took refuge in a nearby farmhouse. A swarm of state
police, alerted by a silent alarm that went off at the house, surrounded it the
next morning and went inside.

"Searching room to room, they found handguns and shotguns Mr. Trim had
brought with him. A furious gun battle ensued, during which one state trooper,
Richard Mattson, suffered a debilitating hand wound that forced him to take
disability retirement. Trooper Brinkerhoff then shot and killed Mr. Trim. In
almost the next instant, he was mistakenly shot from behind by a fellow trooper
and died."


- Terri Hallenbeck

Comments:
Yep. The Douglas Administration's loose probation oversight led to the death of a little girl.

If he had been working to keep our streets safe instead of playing political games, Vermont would be a much safer place today.
 
Douglas, Smith and Hofmann have been decimating parole and probation for years now. Too bad the Vermont press didn't look into this issue long before the Bennett case forced them to look into it. It's not getting any better Vermonters. Douglas and Hofmann are committed to setting the entire corrections system up for complete and utter failure. Then they can parade their private campaign contributors in to capitalize on the failure.
 
Nice try - but it won't work. If the liberals in Vermont had not done everything they could to prevent Jessica's Law from even getting a hearing, maybe the kids in Vermont might be safer now. The problem is always the same - bleeding heart liberals just don't believe in hard time. Jessica's Law, with it's tough mandatory sentencing takes it out of these lefty judges hands.
 
That's right ... even though the Douglas Administration has been recommending the early release of child predators, it's still the fault.

What's Jim Douglas supposed to do? Oversee the Department of Corrections? Make sure that criminals stay in prison?

Symington and Shumlin should be doing that.
 
Since when does Douglas "appoint" civil service jobs like probation and parole officers?
 
You have to love that the right-wingers in here keep asking for Jessica's Law and increased sentencing when their elected leaders, (e.g. Douglas) are screaming bloody murder about needing to reduce the number of people locked up in Vermont. Can't have it both ways GOP faithful.

Why don't we look at locking up all the sex offenders at Bubba's house. He'd allow it, as long as it's for 25 years and no less.
 
Yeh, Douglas would like to reduce the number in Vermont jails - by sending them to jails in Tennessee, Kentucky, much cheaper and the little darlings might not WANT to go back to jail after a few months in what a jail SHOULD BE! As for sex offenders, the best way to protect the public and "rehabilitate" them is castration! No repeat offenders.
 
This just in...

That Odom guy from GMD just saw the wife of the brother of Evan Bayh. It sent shivers down his spine.

Odom also took a picture of Chris Matthews eating breakfast and is now spending a little private time with the picture in the men's room.
 
Nah. That's more of a Republican thing ... remember Larry Craig?

Yea, most of the GOP Senators are just old queens.
 
It's true. Douglas can't be blamed for anything that goes wrong in state government.

It's not like he's in charge or anything.

It's someone else's fault.
 
John Odumb thinks he's king kong of the political blogging world...he's really just a nobody with a head bigger than his....well we'll just leave it at....
 
For someone who isn't interested in Odum's blog, you sure do spend a lot of talking about it.

Seems like a man-crush to me.
 
Well this is Vermont afterall
 
Come on now. That's not fair.

Republicans are in the homosexual closet in every state, not just Vermont.
 
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