[B]ARRE—Jody Herring’s defense attorney has asked the court to stop releasing records to the news media about her mental health and family history because he considers it privileged information.
David Sleigh, a prominent defense attorney who contracts with the Defender General’s Office, has filed paperwork in Washington Superior Court to stop the court from releasing Herring’s personal information on file with the Department for Children and Families.
Sleigh represents Herring, 40, the mother accused of committing first-degree murder of social worker Lara Sobel on Aug. 7 after she lost custody of her 9-year-old daughter. Herring is also suspected of killing three of her relatives on Aug. 7. (The girl is now in her father’s custody.)
In an Aug. 14 article, VTDigger used dozens of pages of records obtained at Washington Family Court to detail Herring’s “presumed” diagnosis of bipolar disorder in 2010, a relief from abuse order from 2014 against the father of one of her children, and allegations from two custody cases saying she was “unstable.”
Within 24 hours of reading the piece, Sleigh’s staff attorney wrote an email to Pat Gabel, the court administrator, asking the judiciary to investigate how those records were released. The Burlington Free Press broke the story about the request for an investigation on Wednesday.
“Did the Washington Family Division (or another Vermont family court) disclose the mental-health records referenced in the aforementioned VTDigger.org article?” the email said. “If so, can you please explain the circumstances surrounding the disclosure of these records?”
Sleigh had already submitted a narrow request to the court on Aug. 8 asking that Herring’s family court records be sealed, and the state had 10 days to respond. His office then filed a renewed motion on Aug. 14, after the information from the records had already been published.
Sleigh told VTDigger that the exposure of mental health records harmed his client’s right to a fair jury trial, and a revelation of wrongdoing at the court could “add some gravitas” if he asks the court to have the case held in another venue.
“Certainly, there has been damage done that is irreparable,” Sleigh said of the records release. “If it was unlawful for the court to release those materials, and if in fact the court did release them, we would consider seeking various remedies.”
“To our view, those kind of records are exempt from the Public Records Act, or the Vermont rules for access to court files, and we were a little alarmed by (their release),” he said. “We renewed our motion and sought a temporary restraining order. We wanted a freeze on these records until there was some opportunity for deliberate review.”
John Treadwell, the lead prosecutor on the case on behalf of the Attorney General’s Office, successfully argued Aug. 10 to have the trial held at the Barre court so that Sobel’s family could attend.
Treadwell said the Attorney General’s Office has not yet filed a response to Sleigh’s renewed motion, but will soon. Treadwell’s team wrote on Aug. 14 that it opposes sealing the documents completely, and says Herring’s records should be open for use of law enforcement, the Attorney General’s Office, and the defense.
In the document from Aug. 14, the prosecution argues that DCF records are necessary to prosecute the case because they relate to Herring’s motive; police say she was “ranting” at the murder scene over losing custody of her child.
“The defendant refers to her ‘privilege against disclosure’ of DCF records but cites no statute or law creating such privilege,” the document said. “The defendant has no privilege against disclosure to law enforcement and prosecutors for legitimate law enforcement purposes.”
More records have been released
Records obtained Wednesday from Washington Superior Court’s criminal division, through a public records request placed last week, show that corrections officials have made comments about Herring similar to those concerns brought up by the fathers of her children in family court proceedings.
In 1998, Herring faced criminal charges for driving with a criminally suspended license, after she allegedly collided with her boss’ car. It was the same day the loss prevention division fired her from a job at a gas station, court records say.
Judge Walter Morris ordered her held on bail under the condition that she not buy or possess guns. It’s not clear why. A week before going to a jury trial, Herring reached a plea agreement with the prosecutors to serve probation, but she allegedly violated it.
The criminal court records include doctors’ notes from 2000 from the Mad River Valley Health Center saying that Herring broke her tailbone and could not do heavy lifting. A corrections worker also wrote a detailed description of her experience with Herring in the corrections system.
“There has been residential and employment instability, a finding of the Violation of Probation, an arrest warrant for failure to perform on the ‘work crew,’ and allegations of substance abuse, child abuse, and scofflaw behavior,” the Barre Court and Reparative Services wrote on Oct. 21, 2001.
“The subject, by her actions and inactions, however, demonstrates either an unwillingness or an inability to participate in her own rehabilitation,” it says. “As the (Department of Corrections) believes that ‘Everybody can change,’ I recommend the court order the subject to serve on pre-approved furloughs.”
“Should she fail to comply (with her probation) the Department will request a warrant for her arrest and she will serve whatever time remains under incarceration as a consequence of her antisocial behavior,” the document says.
According to the opinion attached to the 2010 psychiatric evaluation from the Central Vermont Medical Group, Herring’s bipolar disorder was the underlying issue affecting her employment and social skills.
