BURLINGTON — A Burlington man charged with shooting and wounding three Palestinian college students will be allowed to pursue an insanity defense even though a deadline for raising such a defense passed months ago.
The trial in the case against Jason Eaton remains set for June 1. Judge John Pacht, in a ruling Friday, granted Eaton’s request to claim insanity but rejected his attorneys’ move to delay the trial — possibly until late October — to allow them time to prepare that defense.
Instead, the judge said he would leave it up to the prosecution whether the trial in the case, pending since November 2023, needed to be delayed.
Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George had argued that moving the trial back meant the three young men who were shot would not be able to testify in person. They would have graduated from college by then and had planned to leave the country right after the June trial, George said.
“They are returning to Palestine,” she told the judge.
However, keeping the June 1 start date would not give prosecutors enough time to find their own expert to rebut an insanity defense, George said.
Pacht’s ruling Friday during a hearing in Chittenden County Superior criminal court in Burlington followed five days of hearings over the past two weeks. Eaton, 51, faces three counts of attempted murder in the shooting, which left one of the young men paralyzed.
George, speaking to reporters after Friday’s hearing, said she was disappointed in the judge’s ruling allowing the insanity defense well after a deadline set for raising it.
She said that although the judge allowed the prosecution the option of delaying the trial, it felt “like a false option” under the circumstances.
“I’m going to talk to the victims about their preference and inform the court,” George said.
“We will not be able to get an expert for a June trial,” she added. “The only option we would have in order to have an expert is to agree to push the trial out to August or September, which could risk our victims being present.”
George had told the judge during the recent string of hearings that she strongly opposed having the three men testify over video and talked of the importance of jurors’ hearing and seeing them on the witness stand in the courtroom.
Margaret Jansch, Eaton’s attorney, said after Friday’s hearing that she was pleased the judge allowed the insanity defense to move forward.
“For now we’re planning on being ready for trial June 1,” Jansch told reporters.
Eaton’s defense team had told the judge that their client had only recently agreed for them to pursue an insanity defense. His lawyers argued during hearings that they needed time to gather evidence to support the contention that Eaton lacked the ability to comprehend the criminality of his actions.
Pacht, in allowing the insanity defense, said in the courtroom Friday that he understood it was raised late, but that Eaton’s mental health had been an ongoing issue throughout the case.
The judge also said the charges against Eaton were “extraordinarily” serious. As a result, Pacht said, he was exercising “great caution” by allowing the insanity defense.
Charging documents accuse Eaton of shooting the three young men as they walked on North Prospect Street in Burlington on the evening of Nov. 25, 2023.
The move by Eaton to pursue an insanity defense follows a ruling by Pacht earlier in April finding Eaton competent to stand trial. Eaton’s lawyers had contended that their client was not able to assist his own defense. An insanity defense, by contrast, focuses on a person’s state of mind at the time of an alleged offense.
After the judge’s ruling on competency in April, Jansch filed a notice with the court that Eaton wanted to raise an insanity defense.
Eaton had earlier refused to pursue insanity as a defense. Instead, he wanted the trial moved to federal court, where he intended to argue that he was acting under federal government authority in carrying out the shootings.
No evidence presented in the case backs up Eaton’s assertion that the federal government directed him to shoot the three students.
Eaton, who has been held without bail since the shootings, appeared in court earlier this week and formally told the judge that it was his decision to pursue the insanity defense.
“Being detained in prison and facing criminal charges does create some pressure on a person, so given the options that I have available to me it is voluntary,” he said to Pacht.
Jansch said during a hearing Thursday that a defense expert has since provided her with a preliminary determination that Eaton met the legal standard for a finding that he was insane at the time of the shootings.
Chittenden County Deputy State’s Attorney Sally Adams told the judge Thursday that due to the late insanity defense notice, the prosecution has been unable to find an expert to help rebut that defense.
Adams said the prosecution team had reached out to a dozen experts with none of them able to commit to taking the case. As a result, George told the judge, her team has been put in an “impossible” position in trying to prosecute Eaton.
Charging documents alleged that Eaton shot Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Aliahmad. They attend universities out of state and were in Burlington to visit friends and family over Thanksgiving.
The men told police that Eaton, without saying anything, came at them from the porch of a residence and shot all three, the documents stated. At the time of the shootings, the students were wearing traditional scarves that are a symbol of Palestinian identity.
Eaton’s defense team has another pending motion seeking a change of venue for the trial, contending that the extensive publicity the case has received would make finding a fair and impartial jury impossible in Chittenden County.
Pacht has not ruled on that motion.
The judge said as Friday’s hearing came to a close that he was hopeful that a fair and impartial jury could be seated to hear the case in Chittenden County.
“I’m not sure where else we could try this case at this point,” Pacht added.
