Two Vermont state troopers are preparing for trial on charges stemming from a 2022 incident in which a man was seriously injured in a fall after being struck by a beanbag-type projectile.
Trooper Zachary Trocki and Sgt. Ryan Wood each face a misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment. State prosecutors have not refiled simple assault charges that were initially brought against the troopers but were subsequently dismissed by the court.
In a hearing on Monday, the troopers’ attorneys and prosecutors from the Vermont Attorney General’s Office discussed the likelihood of holding a joint trial in the coming months.
The law enforcement officers pleaded not guilty in Windham County Superior Court last May, when prosecutors said they would be presenting additional evidence to support the dismissed charges of simple assault.
A judge had found no probable cause for the misdemeanor assault charges, saying the police report filed in court failed to establish that the beanbag’s shooting caused the Newfane man’s fall.
Police identified the man as 61-year-old Marshall Dean, who was reportedly behaving irrationally and inflicting damage on the house of another Newfane resident he was visiting.
When Trocki and Wood arrived at the residence, investigators said, the troopers found Dean on the roof of the house. State police said the troopers tried to de-escalate the situation but were unsuccessful, and Trocki eventually fired a beanbag projectile at Dean, who fell about 15 feet to the ground. Police said Dean underwent surgery for life-threatening injuries.
After the troopers’ arraignments in May, the Attorney General’s Office underscored in a statement that Trocki and his superior, Wood, were not justified in their use of force against Dean. The prosecutors said there was no evidence Dean posed an imminent threat to the lives of the troopers or of another person.
But in the nearly 10 months since, the AG’s office has not filed an amended affidavit of probable cause to support the simple assault charges. Attorney General Charity Clark’s chief-of-staff, Lauren Jandl, declined to comment when asked about the charges.
At the start of the hearing Monday, when Judge John Treadwell asked the attorneys how the cases were going to proceed, Wood’s attorney said he expected his client would be found innocent.
“Going forward, we’ll have an acquittal,” defense attorney David Sleigh said. “But we’re ready to have a trial after we depose the state’s expert.”
After the upcoming deposition, Sleigh said, he could bring a motion to dismiss his client’s lone charge.
The lead prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Rose Kennedy, brought up settlement talks. “I continue to hope that Mr. Sleigh and Mr. Sussman will talk to the state about a possible resolution,” Kennedy told the judge. Trocki is represented by attorney Robert Sussman.
In an interview, Sleigh said defense attorneys are always open to negotiating a settlement but that they have not yet heard a “reasonable” proposal from prosecutors.
Trocki and Wood, both assigned to the Westminster barracks, remain on paid administrative duty at the barracks, according to state police spokesperson Adam Silverman.
Correction: the photo caption in a previous version of this story misidentified the two Vermont state troopers.
