ST. ALBANS — Although Judge Martin Maley called it a “savage” and “brutal” beating, he sentenced a former St. Albans police officer to serve a minimum of three months in jail for punching a handcuffed woman in custody at the police station in the face.
The sentence was less than the six months the prosecution had been seeking for Jason Lawton, which would have been the maximum allowed under a plea deal on the misdemeanor charge. Lawton’s attorneys had argued for a sentence that spared their client jail time.
Maley, in handing down the sentence to Lawton during a hearing Wednesday in Franklin County Superior criminal court, spoke for more than 20 minutes. He talked of the need to send a message to others in law enforcement that actions such as Lawton’s would result in a punitive response.
“This was a savage beating,” the judge said, later calling it “brutal” and “violent.” He also said he found it “disturbing” and “disappointing” that Lawton showed a lack of remorse, particularly in a letter he wrote that was submitted to the judge Wednesday.
Lawton did not speak during the hearing.
Maley sentenced him to three to six months in jail, allowing him to report to jail on Jan. 14.
In a plea deal, Lawton, 34, pleaded guilty in May to a misdemeanor charge of simple assault for striking Amy Connelly, of Highgate, in March 2019 at the St. Albans police station.
The agreement called for a contested sentencing hearing, which took place Wednesday. Under terms of the plea deal, the prosecution was allowed to seek a jail term of up to six months while Lawton’s attorney could argue for a lesser sentence.
Rebecca Otey, one of Lawton’s attorneys, argued for a sentence with no jail time while Assistant Attorney General Paul Barkus, a prosecutor, called on the judge to impose the maximum six-month jail term permitted by the plea agreement.
Otey said her client has lost his job, his career in law enforcement, and has been “ostracized” and “shamed” in the community. She said while Lawton initially thought his use of force was justified, “he has since become aware that it wasn’t the proper use of force.”
Barkus disputed the defense contention that Lawton had taken responsibility for his actions, saying he had not expressed any remorse or regret.
The prosecutor also spoke about how Connelly was handled after she was struck, comparing it to how ducks and chickens were treated on the farm where he grew up “to get them out of the way.”
According to video of the March 2019 encounter, Connelly was in a holding cell at the St. Albans police station with her hands cuffed behind her back.
At one point in the video, Connelly can be seen standing up, appearing to raise a leg toward Lawton. The video shows Lawton pushing her onto a bench inside the cell, grabbing her shirt near her neck, and punching her in the face.
Lawton and two other officers push her face-first to the ground and cuff her ankles.
“You guys are brutes,” Connelly can be heard telling the officers.
Connelly was then taken by ambulance to the Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans and received treatment for injuries to her face and bruising around her eye, according to court filings in the case.
Connelly later contacted the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a public records request for the camera footage of Lawton striking her. Seven Days first reported on the video in August 2019.
Lawton was later fired from the police department.
After the ACLU got the video footage, the Vermont Attorney General’s Office charged Lawton with misdemeanor simple assault in November 2019.
Connelly has since brought a federal lawsuit naming Lawton and the city of St. Albans among the defendants; it’s still pending.
Dr. Claire Gilligan, a clinical psychologist, testified Wednesday on behalf of the defense that she found that Lawton suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from a police shooting in 2018 where a man was wounded.
She said one of Lawton’s “triggers” is loud noise, and there were loud sounds from the holding cell prior to his encounter with Connelly.
“That may have triggered him to respond in a very angry manner,” Gilligan said.
Barkus, the prosecutor, told the judge there was no evidence that post-traumatic stress disorder caused Lawton’s actions. He said the assault did not appear to stem from an impulsive act but from someone who had a bad temper.
Evan Chadwick, an attorney representing Connelly, spoke during the hearing Wednesday, telling the judge that his client objected to the terms of the plea agreement.
“My client does not agree with the charge; my client does not agree with this sentence,” Chadwick said, adding that, in reviewing the video, he saw three criminal assaults against his client, including at least one felony aggravated assault.
He said Connelly has suffered significant trauma in her life and has shown great resilience in moving forward.
“This continues to have a traumatic effect on my client to this very day,” Chadwick said of Lawton’s assault on his client. “She continues to have a distrust of police.”
After the hearing Wednesday, Christopher Perkett, another attorney representing Lawton, said outside the courtroom that he disagreed with the judge’s characterization of the assault. He said he needed to speak with his client before deciding whether to seek a stay of the jail sentence pending a possible appeal.
“I’m disappointed in the entire prosecution,” he said, and if Lawton were not a police officer at the time, a conviction on the misdemeanor charge would have resulted in a sentence with no jail time.
“I think this is beyond the pale,” Perkett said of the jail sentence.
Assistant Attorney General Robert Lees, a prosecutor, spoke outside the courthouse after the hearing Wednesday.
“This was a betrayal of community trust,” Lees said. “We believe that that sentence addresses that betrayal.”
