Lawyer: Prosecutor Brochu silences sheriff

A lawyer for Franklin County Sheriff Robert Norris said his client is only following orders from a local prosecutor by refusing to release routine information about a car crash that left a child critically injured this week.

Norris received the directive from Franklin County Deputy State’s Attorney Heather Brochu to withhold public information following the crash on Wednesday on Boston Post Road in Enosburg, Burlington lawyer Pietro Lynn said.

“He has been told by the State’s Attorney’s Office that he should for the time being keep the requested information confidential,” Lynn said in an email.

Lynn wrote the comments in response to a Vermont Public Records request by the Burlington Free Press after the names, ages, hometowns of three passengers were among the details withheld following the crash in Enosburg on Wednesday morning.

Lynn said some details were part of an ongoing criminal investigation, but the Free Press request only covered information from the public accident report.

Brochu was unresponsive to phone and email messages Thursday and most of Friday, but late Friday afternoon sent an email saying she believes state law allows public information to be withheld because of the investigation. Brochu did not say what made this case the exception to past practices.

It is not the first time the sheriffs and prosecutors in Franklin County have been at odds over the release of public information.

Franklin County prosecutors have told area police not to release breath-test results when drivers are arrested for driving while under the influence. Norris acknowledged this week his department has disregarded that order. He said his officers release the test results — a stance also taken by the Vermont State Police, Vermont Motor Vehicle Department and most police agencies throughout the state.

Lynn said Brochu’s order also blocked the sheriff from providing copies of public records that were redacted as required by law.

“We have not offered to provide redacted documents because of the communications from the State’s Attorney’s office,” Lynn wrote to the Free Press.

The sheriff’s office has said Robert Bellevue, 21, of St. Albans is facing multiple charges for the rollover crash on Boston Post Road about 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Bellevue is due in Vermont Superior Court at 1 p.m. Monday on charges of attempting to leave the scene of an accident and gross negligent operation, Norris said. Bellevue, who was uninjured, also was ticketed for operating with a suspended license, the department said.

A drug recognition expert also screened Bellevue and additional charges may be brought once results are received, Capt. Jay Sweeney, the chief deputy sheriff, said.

Sweeney said a 2003 Kia operated by Bellevue went off the right side of the road and rolled over a steep embankment ejecting one of the passengers near Sand Hill Road.

The girl was rushed by Enosburg Ambulance to Northwest Medical Center in St. Albans and later transferred to University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington.

The Burlington medical center is unable to provide any condition updates without a patient’s name, a spokesman said.

Sweeney said the other two passengers were transported to the St. Albans hospital, where they were treated for minor injuries and released.

Contact Mike Donoghue at 660-1845 or mdonoghue@freepressmedia.com. Follow Mike on Twitter at www.twitter.com/FreepsMikeD.