[R]UTLAND – An 18-year-old Poultney man accused of planning to shoot up his former high school in Fair Haven may soon be out of jail on bail, but it won’t be today.
Judge Thomas Zonay set $100,000 bail for Jack Sawyer, and if posted, ordered that he be released into the custody of his father.
Should the bail be put up, the judge prohibited Sawyer from entering the town of Fair Haven.
The bail amount set by the judge was twice the $50,000 that had been requested by prosecutors during a hearing Tuesday in Rutland Superior criminal court.
Sawyer’s attorney argued that no bail was needed and that Sawyer intended to seek inpatient psychiatric care at the Brattleboro Retreat upon his release to the custody of his father.
“In this court’s view the defendant represents a significant flight risk whose presence can only be reasonably assured through the imposition of an amount of bail that will serve as strong incentive for him to appear at all proceedings,” the judge said in setting the $100,000 bail.
Zonay said he would consider suspended the bail and release conditions should a treatment bed become available for Sawyer at the psychiatric facility. If a “firm admission date” is available the judge said a hearing could be set to consider the matter.
Jack Sawyer’s father, David Sawyer, would not comment after the hearing.
The possible release of Jack Sawyer has had many Fair Haven community members nervous, especially those in the school system, which has stepped up security measures.
Gov. Phil Scott, in a statement Friday, also pledged resources from Vermont State Police to assist Fair Haven, if needed.
The governor has repeatedly cited Sawyer’s arrest as leading him to shift his stance this year on the need for added gun restrictions in Vermont. Last week, the governor signed legislation that makes historic changes to the state’s firearms laws.
Other conditions of Sawyer’s release, should bail be posted, include that he not contact students or staff at the school, and that he stay away from the school grounds.
His father testified during a hearing Tuesday that he owned his home, which could be put up as collateral to secure a bond. He said he was prepared to post the $50,000 bail requested by prosecutors as soon as Tuesday.
Then he would take his son to receive care at the Brattleboro Retreat, where he has been working with attorneys to secure a treatment bed, he said.
Kelly Green, Sawyer’s public defender, said late Tuesday afternoon that bail was not expected to be posted by the end of the day.
“Not tonight,” she said when asked if the bail would posted today. Asked about Wednesday, she replied, “I don’t know.”
Green said after the hearing she couldn’t comment if David Sawyer had the $100,000 in cash or could obtain needed bond for that amount.
“What I am going to do is review today’s decision,” she said. “Then I’ll have a clearer idea of the next steps.”
Rutland County State’s Attorney Rose Kennedy declined to take questions following the hearing. “All I’m going to say is that the case is still alive I’m going to continue to litigate it,” she told reporters.
Four felony charges, including attempted aggravated murder, were filed against Sawyer following his arrest in mid-February in what police described as a foil plot to cause “mass casualties” at Fair Haven Union High School.
Green had earlier challenged probable cause for the four felony charges brought against her client, and did the same in court Tuesday for two additional misdemeanors filed a day earlier.
Zonay disagreed, finding probable cause for all six offenses. He issued a ruling prior to the hearing Tuesday denying a motion by the defense seeking to have the four felony charges dismissed for lack of probable cause.
Then after listening to arguments Tuesday on the two new misdemeanors from both the defense and prosecution affirmed his decision to find probable cause for those offenses, too.
Those two misdemeanor charges are criminal threatening and carrying a dangerous or deadly weapon, openly or concealed, with the intent or avowed purpose of causing harm. Together, they carry up to three years in prison.
The criminal threatening charge alleged that he threatened death or serious harm to Scott Alkinburgh, the school resource officer at Fair Haven Union High School.
Sawyer had told police when they interviewed him that he intended to take out the school resource officer first, because that was only person who could stop his planned school shooting, according to court records.
Green, in challenging that charge, told the judge that her client had never communicated that threat to Alkinburgh directly. Kennedy, the prosecutor, countered that in telling it to detectives during an interview Sawyer was well aware that the threat would be conveyed to Alkinburgh.
The weapon charge alleges that the day before his Feb. 15 arrest, Sawyer had a 12-gauge shotgun “with the avowed purpose to kill students at Fair Haven Union High School.”
Green said during the point in time alleged in that charge, Sawyer had no intent to shoot up the school. She said while Sawyer may have earlier talked about or written down plans for a shooting at the school, during the time period alleged he was not intending to carrying it out.
Kennedy said that the shotgun, which Sawyer had purchased at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Rutland shortly before his arrest, was indeed intended for the shooting.
He told detectives, according to the prosecutor, that “he intended to follow through with his plan no matter what and this interaction with law enforcement was only going to delay that plan.”
Green indicated following the hearing that she intended to continue to challenge the issue of probable cause.
“If there’s no probable cause then the court can’t really be holding Jack at all,” she said. “But what that requires is litigation.”
Asked if that is matter that can be appealed to the Vermont Supreme Court, she replied, “Bail decisions are always appealable.”
Sawyer had been held without bail at the Rutland jail since his arrest on Feb. 15. According to the state’s online inmate locator, he remained incarcerated there Monday night.
The Vermont Supreme Court ruled last week that Sawyer couldn’t continue to be held without bail.
And, in a severe blow to the prosecution’s case, the high court ruled that the “attempted” charges against Sawyer did not rise to a standard needed for an attempt offense under Vermont case law.
That’s because, a three-justice panel of the high court wrote, merely planning or preparing to commit a crime is not enough to prove an “attempt” offense under Vermont case law.
Following that decision, prosecutors added the two misdemeanor charges against Sawyer.
Zonay said during Tuesday’s hearing that he would take a motion filed by the defense to dismiss those felony charges up at a later time.
He added that the standard for finding probable cause for an offense is lower than that needed to survive a motion to dismiss.
Sawyer had earlier pleaded not guilty to the four felony charges following his arrest in mid-February. On Tuesday, he pleaded not guilty to the two new misdemeanor charges brought by prosecutors.
At one point during the hearing Tuesday, Kennedy, the prosecutor, referred to those two misdemeanor charges against Sawyer as the most “viable” offenses against him.
David Sawyer, in testifying Tuesday, said he would be willing to turn his son in to police should he violate any of the conditions of his release.
The father added that his son had many family members nearby, including his grandmother, aunts, siblings, and nieces.
His mother and stepfather, former Castleton University President David Wolk, are currently living in Florida, David Sawyer added.
Asked if he gets along with his family members, David Sawyer said of his son, “He’s always been very good with everybody.”
