Town officials in Northfield are going to the top with their concerns about a decision by the lead prosecutor in Washington County to refuse most criminal cases filed by the local police chief due to issues of alleged dishonesty.
“We asked essentially for the governor to step in and to provide relief for what we see as an unfair action by the state’s attorney,” Charlie Morse, a Northfield selectboard member, said Monday afternoon.
Last month Washington County State’s Attorney Rory Thibault issued a so-called “scarlet letter” for Police Chief John Helfant, branding him as an untrustworthy law enforcement officer.
Thibault questioned whether Helfant had sought proper consent in two separate drug search cases. In November, the state’s attorney’s office said it would “decline case referrals” from the police chief, as reported in VTDigger’s three-part series on dishonest cops, “Tarnished Badge.”
“I get the feeling that the state’s attorney is imposing this letter that essentially assassinates the chief of police because there is bad blood between him and the chief of police,” Morse said.
The prosecutor said Monday that he first heard of the town’s letter to the governor when he was contacted by a reporter for this story.
Thibault said he has previously sent a letter as well as an “info” sheet to the town explaining his position and his willingness to meet with officials and residents to lay out his rationale for no longer accepting most types of criminal cases from Helfant.
“This is a position of public trust and part of that is making difficult decisions that are sometimes unpopular,” he said. “I welcome the opportunity to meet with them either in public or executive session to have a candid discussion about what the concerns and considerations are.”
K. David Maxwell, the town’s selectboard chair, wrote the letter Dec. 18 to Gov. Phil Scott, urging him to do what he could to help the town with its concerns about Thibault’s decision.
“We recognize that you as Governor do not have direct authority over the State’s Attorney,” the letter stated.
The letter requested that the governor “politely” discuss the matter with Thibault.
“All we ask is that he hold Chief Helfant to the same standards as would be applied to the work of any other law enforcement officer in good standing,” the letter concluded.
Rebecca Kelley, a spokesperson for the governor, stated in email that she was not aware of the letter until provided with a copy of it from a reporter. As a result, she said, the governor’s office needed time to “review and discuss” it before offering a comment.
At issue is a letter Thibault sent to the town last month stating that his prosecutor’s office will no longer accept most criminal cases brought by Helfant.
Thibault had issued what is often referred to as a “Brady” or “Giglio” letter to defense attorneys in Washington County alerting them to issues that put Helfant’s credibility into question.
That letter is named after national court cases that call for prosecutors to turn over to defense attorneys any potential evidence that could help prove their client’s innocence or lessen any sentence.
The recent series outlined the “Brady” or “Giglio” letters issued in Vermont in recent years, and how the process can differ from county to county among the 14 elected state’s attorneys for deciding when to issue one.
The letters can often mean the death knell of a career in law enforcement for the officer named since it can be used in cases they have investigated or been involved with to tear apart their credibility on the stand by defense attorneys.
For Helfant, questions over his credibility initially stemmed from a drug case he investigated while working for the Berlin Police Department and before he became police chief in Northfield.
In that matter, Thibault eventually dropped the charges against the defendant after he couldn’t reconcile statements in a sworn affidavit from Helfant with body cam footage from the scene about whether proper consent had been obtained to conduct a search.
Thibault had also raised similar issues in a second case that also led him to drop drug charges against another defendant, and he called in early 2019 on the Vermont Attorney General’s Office to conduct a criminal investigation into Helfant’s action.
Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan stated last month that after a lengthy investigation he determined that there was “insufficient” evidence to support a criminal charge, such as neglect of duty, against Helfant.
Helfant has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing and contends his searches were lawful, pointing to technology problems with the body cameras in failing to properly pick up sound and the consent he said he was given.
Though the Vermont Attorney General’s Office didn’t bring criminal charges, Thibault wrote in a letter to the town he would no longer take all but the most serious of criminal cases brought by Helfant while declining to prosecute the less serious and nonviolent ones.
“The presumptive declination or acceptance of cases,” the prosecutor wrote, “may be overcome based upon review of such evidence or consideration of credible statements of other officers/witnesses, consistent with the interests of justice and particular circumstances of each case.”
Helfant retired after serving 28 years with Vermont State Police. He went on to serve for a short time with the Berlin Police Department before taking the post as Northfield police chief in 2018.
Maxwell, the town’s selectboard chair, wrote in his recent letter to the governor that Thibault has “made clear his disdain and personal dislike” for Helfant.
The letter also stated that in an earlier private conversation with a town selectboard member Thibailt had called Helfant a “cowboy” who thinks he knows better than the attorneys.
Helfant, reached by email Monday, declined comment on the selectboard’s letter.
David Sleigh, an attorney who has represented Helfant, said he had not seen the letter from the town to the governor, but doubted it would have any effect since Thibault is an independently elected public official.
“He can pursue vendettas to whatever extent that he feels like, pretty much,” Sleigh said.
Thibault disputed that his decision-making in the matter stemmed from a “vendetta” against the Northfield police chief.
“People can believe what they want or see what they want to see in any relationship,” he said. “I hope people that know me well know that I’m not that petty.”