BURLINGTON — A Vermont judge has pushed back a bid to delay the trial of a Burlington man charged with shooting and wounding three Palestinian college students more than two years ago.
The man’s attorney requested that the trial, currently set for jury selection to begin June 1, be moved to October to allow her time to prepare and mount an insanity defense. The prosecution objected to the delay.
Judge John Pacht said during a hearing Wednesday in Chittenden County Superior criminal court in Burlington he was reluctant to push back the trial date. He requested Jason Eaton’s lawyer, Margaret Jansch, do her best to work with her expert to make the June 1 trial date work.
“I’m leaving the trial on for now,” Pacht said,
The judge said the deadline for providing notice of an insanity defense has passed. Pacht added that pushing back the trial could unfairly impact the prosecution’s case, as the three young men who were shot and wounded in the attack are finishing college this spring and then will be leaving the country.
“The victims have a right to be present,” the judge said.
Pacht ruled earlier this month that Eaton was competent to stand trial, rejecting arguments by Eaton’s attorney that her client was not able to assist in his defense.
In a filing late last week, Jansch raised a defense that Eaton, 50, was insane at the time of the offenses, and argued to Pacht during hearings Monday and Wednesday that she needs more time to prepare evidence to a jury supporting that contention.
The case has been pending since November 2023, when Eaton was arrested and charged with three counts of attempted second-degree murder.
Jansch said in court that Eaton only agreed to allow her to pursue an insanity defense after Pacht ruled this month that Eaton was competent to stand trial. Jansch told the judge she has retained a forensic psychiatrist to assist with the insanity defense case. She added that the expert needed to examine Eaton and could prepare a report by June. Jansch said the expert would not be available to testify during a trial until October.
Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George said during hearings this week that she “adamantly” opposed any continuation of the trial, adding that deadlines for such a move have already passed. George said the case has been pending for 2½ years, and Eaton has had ample time to decide on whether to pursue an insanity defense.
No motive for the shootings has been revealed. However, Eaton said at a court hearing last year that he acted under the instructions of government agencies at the time of the shootings.
Also, during a competency hearing earlier this year, an expert for the defense testified that Eaton reported having been contacted by government agencies, including the CIA, before the shooting of three men in November 2023, having received those communications through FM radio transmissions and wireless devices.
But, about three months after his arrest when speaking to a mental health provider at the Newport prison where he was being held, Eaton said he wasn’t clear himself why he did what he did and did not mention having been contacted by government agencies, court filings stated.
Charging documents allege that the evening of Nov. 25, 2023, Eaton shot the three young men as they walked on North Prospect Street in Burlington.
The three men — Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Aliahmad — did not know Eaton. They attended colleges out of state and had been in Burlington visiting friends and family over Thanksgiving.
They told police that Eaton came at them from a porch and, without saying anything, shot all three, the charging documents stated.
At the time of the shooting, according to the documents, the three men were wearing keffiyehs, a traditional scarf that is a symbol of Palestinian identity.
Two of the wounded men were treated for injuries at a hospital and later released. The third man suffered severe injuries and remains paralyzed from the chest down.
George, during the hearings this week, said the trial was set for June since the three men were graduating from college this spring and planned to stay in the country for the trial. Then, she said, “They are returning to Palestine.”
A delay, she said, would be a hardship for them since they will be out of the country, making it difficult for the prosecution of the case.
“I am not unsympathetic to the state’s position,” Jansch, Eaton’s attorney, told the judge, adding of her client, “He has every right to assert this defense.”
Jansch also argued during the hearing that not allowing Eaton’s defense team to properly prepare for an insanity defense could potentially raise issues on appeal if he were convicted.
