Judge John Pacht held off on accepting a plea deal Tuesday in the nearly six-year-old murder case against Louis Fortier after Fortier said he believed the CIA had implanted a GPS device into his body and was tracking him.
At one point during Tuesday’s hearing in Chittenden Superior criminal court, Pacht called the attorneys into his chambers, adding he understood that “this is highly unusual.”
The judge said he had some concerns about Fortier’s level of “comprehension,” and Fortier had made statements during the hearing that suggested an alternative reality.
The judge set a hearing for April 17 for a “likely” sentencing after taking Fortier’s plea under consideration Tuesday. Pacht said he wanted time to give the case “more thought” before formally accepting the plea agreement.
Fortier entered a plea of no contest to an amended charge of second-degree murder in the stabbing and killing of Richard Medina, 43, on the Church Street Marketplace in Burlington during the afternoon of March 29, 2017.
Fortier had initially been charged with first-degree murder, but that charge was dropped in 2019 after the prosecutor, Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George, said she could not overcome an insanity defense in the case.
In exchange for the no contest plea, prosecutors now agree to a sentence of 20 years to life in prison, with all but six years suspended. Fortier would be given credit for the nearly six years he has served, mostly at the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital in Berlin, since his arrest.
The judge said that, before accepting the plea deal, he wanted to hear from witnesses, including Fortier’s treating psychiatrist at the Berlin hospital.
The plea agreement is the latest turn in a long-running legal and political battle in the case. Tuesday’s hearing had been set to consider a motion to dismiss the charge against Fortier.
Last year, the state’s own forensic psychologist had determined that Fortier was insane when Medina was stabbed to death. That followed similar findings by experts from the defense and one appointed by the court.
Based on the experts’ finding, David Sleigh, Fortier’s attorney, had moved to dismiss the charge against his client, arguing he was legally insane at the time of the offense. Prosecutors were still moving ahead with the case and planned to take it to a jury trial.
Assistant Attorney General Rose Kennedy, a prosecutor in the case, said in court Tuesday the intent of the plea agreement was to give Fortier a “time served” sentence while keeping him on probation for the rest of his life under the supervision of the state Department of Corrections.
The conditions include that he stay in contact with his probation officer, let the probation officer know where he is living, and abide by a curfew. He also could not use regulated drugs without a prescription.
“Can you comply with these conditions of probation?” Pacht asked Fortier.
“I like to have a beer once in a while,” Fortier replied, adding that he felt better and could control himself when he took his medication. “It’s not perfect — the medication. I feel it’s sufficient.”
Where Fortier will go if the judge accepts the plea deal in April remains an open question.
Pacht, the judge, said during the hearing it is expected that Fortier will at least remain at the state psychiatric hospital for a period of time. Exactly how long is not clear.
“Will I be in the hospital forever?” Fortier asked the judge during the hearing.
“I don’t know,” the judge replied.
Sleigh then said his client’s “level of treatment will be reviewed over time; it may change and it may not.”
Toward the end of the hearing, Fortier asked the judge if he could get an X-ray of his head because he believed the CIA had placed a GPS tracking device under his eye.
Following that request, Pacht stopped briefly from reading the terms of the probation conditions.
“I’ve got to really think this through” before deciding whether to accept the plea deal, the judge said.
Pacht later asked Fortier if he had the energy to continue with the hearing Tuesday, and Fortier agreed that he did. Sleigh had told the judge that his client deals with “stamina” issues.
George, the state’s attorney, dropped the murder charge against Fortier in June 2019, saying she could not counter an insanity defense after examinations determined Fortier was schizophrenic and insane at the time of the attack.
At the same time George dismissed the case against Fortier, she also dismissed two unrelated cases — one for murder, the other for attempted murder — for similar reasons. Gov. Phil Scott called on then-Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan to review all three cases, after which Donovan took the unusual step of reviving prosecutions in all three cases that George had dismissed.
Donovan stepped down as attorney general last year.
