[B]URLINGTON — A court ordered mental health screening for accused wrong-way driver Stephen Bourgoin appears to outline mental health issues faced by the 36-year-old Williston man.
A one page mental health screening form labeled confidential was mistakenly left in Bourgoin’s case file at the Chittenden County Superior Court.
A section of the form with the heading, “Evidence today of Major Mental Illness” contained several handwritten sentences that VTDigger was not able to read.
Superior Court Judge James Crucitti said that he had ordered the mental health screening prior to Bourgoin’s arraignment last Friday, anticipating that his mental health and competency would be at issue in the case.
Crucitti said the form, which VTDigger requested a copy of, can’t be released, citing an administrative rule promulgated by the Vermont Supreme Court that states “the public shall not have access” to certain court records, including records created by a “mental health professional.”
The Howard Center has a contract with the Department of Mental Health to conduct court ordered mental health screenings in Chittenden County, and Crucitti confirmed that the screening was done by a Howard Center employee.
That does not conflict with a statement released by the Howard Center Monday, which said, in part, that Howard Center officials “were not contacted to evaluate, assess, or screen this individual on the day of the crash nor at any other time prior to this incident.”
However, in a sworn statement filed with the court, State Police Det. Benjamin Katz wrote that, during his investigation he “called the Howard Center and learned that they were called but did not screen (Bourgoin).”
Bourgoin was seen on surveillance video entering and exiting the emergency room at the UVM Medical Center in Burlington three times on the morning before the crash, according to court documents.
Katz writes that Bourgoin was seen by a physician assistant, but he does not provide any further detail on what he was doing at the hospital.
The facts of the case has lead to speculation that Bourgoin has a mental illness that he was not getting the help he needed to address. A friend say he had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Lyme disease.
The Howard Center’s statement further asserted that Bourgoin was at no time a client of their organization, and that he was not referred to them by any organization.
Donovan brought Katz’s assertion that the Howard Center was involved into question during an interview following Bourgoin’s arraignment. Donovan told reporters it was no longer clear the Howard Center was contacted about Bourgoin.
A Williston police officer who was among the first on the scene of the crash that took the lives of five teenagers, told investigators that he knew Bourgoin from a previous domestic violence case. He too said that Bourgoin has PTSD, according to court documents.
Donovan said last Friday that the state police investigation had not revealed what Bourgoin was doing in the emergency room that day. There is no evidence at this point that Bourgoin was seeking mental health treatment.
Investigators searching Bourgoin’s home found numerous medical bills for lab and X-ray work. His manager at work said Bourgoin had missed a lot of work due to a medical condition since last May, according to court documents.
In May Bourgoin allegedly assaulted an ex-girlfriend and who is the mother of his child. It’s possible that Bourgoin’s legal problems, which included a custody dispute with the ex-girlfriend, were causing him to miss work, and the medical issues were an excuse.
Bourgoin was facing financial challenges too, including a shut-off notice from the gas company and a foreclosure notice on his Williston home.
Bourgoin’s attorney, Robert Katims, requested a competency evaluation at the Friday arraignment where Bourgoin pleaded not guilty to five counts of second degree murder.
It’s unclear from the case file whether that evaluation has occurred. Once the evaluation is completed, the resulting report will be provided to Judge Crucitti, prosecutors and Bourgoin’s attorneys.
The defense or the prosecution could file motions at that point, and there may be a hearing prior to Crucitti’s decision about whether Bourgoin is mentally competent to face the charges leveled against him.
State’s Attorney TJ Donovan has said he believes Brougoin will be found competent to stand trial.
