Windsor County Court - July 24

Allen Deserae, DOB 6/18/92, was arraigned on a charge of  unlawful restraint and assault with a deadly weapon.  The incident took place in Chester, VT.  Deserae pleaded not guilty.

Scott Erskine, DOB 1/30/69 was arraigned on a charge of aggressive domestic assault and pled not guilty.

　
Steven Buckley DOB 8/28/57 was arraigned on a charge of cultivating marijuana in South Royalton and pled not guilty.

Thomas Daniels DOB 3/26/73 was arraigned on a charge of operating a vehicle while having a license suspended for DUI.  He pled not guilty.
　

　

Russ Downing DOB 8/30/69 was arraigned on a charge of being in possession of a narcotic in Hartland. He pled not guilty.
　

Aaron Fitzgerald, DOB 1/11/91 was arraigned on a charge of careless or negligent operation of a motor vehicle in Chester, Vermont.  He pled guilty.

Robin Lepel-Cointet,  DOB7/14/74 was arraigned on  a charge of careless or negligent vehicle operation in Woodstock and judged guilty.  The police received a call about a vehicle partially off the road eastbount on Rte 4.  When officers arrived on the scene, the driver was sitting in the driver's seat, with an aerosol can in front of him.
　

Keith Lincoln DOB 4/21/57 was arraigned on a chargeof a second DUI.  He pled not guilty.



Bruce Loring DOB 8/1/81was arraigned on  a charge of domestic assault in Windsor.  He pled not guilty.
　

　

Natasha Morse  DOB 9/24/90 was arraigned on  a charge of possession of heroin in Windsor.  She pled not guilty.
　

Robert Palmieri DOB 9/17/65 pled guilty to a charge of driving with license suspended in Hartford.
　

Jason Towne DOB 12/17/68 was arraigned a charge of DUI in Royalton, and pled not guilty.
　

Rebekka Ward  DOB 2/6/67 pled guilty to a charge of DUI in Rochester.

　

　

　

　

　

　

Exposing the Negative - July 17th

    In Windsor County Court:

Timothy Brown, DOB 10/19/65 of White River Junction, pled guilty to possession of marijuana.

Matthew Russell DOB 11/6/74 pled guilty to operating with license suspended due to a DUI, in Windsor

Thomas Thompson DOB:6/8/85, pled guilty to possession of marijuana in Springfield on 5/29/12.

Johnny Marshall DOB: 12/3/77, pled guilty to Petit Larceny of $900 or less.  Marshall stole a cell phone that was left on a table at the Shenanigan's Bar in White River Junction.  The owner had stepped out to smoke a cigarette and when she returned the phone was gone.  She called the police and had the phone tracked using the internal GPS.  The phone was located at a local motel and the police accompanied the owner to retrieve the phone.  Police then arrested Marshall.

Daniel Lamont DOB: 4/13/85 pled guilty on July 11th to a charge of petit larceny that occurred on 4/27/12.  Lamont used a credit card to open several locked doors in his mother's home in Bethel, and stole a gun, which he then sold to a local sporting goods store.  The owner of the store then heard that Lamont's mother had reported a gun theft.  He called the police and the gun did turn out to be the one that was stolen.





　

The Bounty of the Upper Valley

     We are so blessed to have enough rain, and not be suffering from the drought that other parts of the country have.  Our local vegetable stands offer a beautiful assortment of locally grown vegetables.  During the winter, we are happy to eat the offerings of the produce department of Shaw's, but in the summertime I try to buy locally.  You know the local produce is fresher and you're supporting local farmers.  Here is a recipe for squash casserole, a favorite of my family's.

SQUASH SOUR CREAM CASSEROLE

Read more about it at www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,188,158170-248193,00.html Content Copyright © 2012 Cooks.com - All rights reserved. 2 lbs. yellow and zucchini squash (cubed, cooked, and drained) 8 oz. sour cream 1 can cream chicken soup Mix: 1 pkg. Pepperidge Farm Herb seasoned Bread crumbs (stuffing mix) 1 stick butter Melt butter mix with bread crumbs, put 1/2 of crumbs in bottom of casserole dish; pour in squash mixture, put remaining 1/2 of bread mixture on top. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Exposing the Negative

I'm still learning when it comes to the court research stuff.  There is nothing to really report from last week.  Out of the 19 arraignments in Windsor County Court on July 10th, a couple were transferred to Diversion, there were a couple of people who didn't show up for their arraignments, there were a couple who pled guilty and had their cases closed, one case was dismissed, and the rest pled not guilty.  The vast majority of those were DUI's.  This got me thinking about DUI's.

Although it is dangerous, irresponsible and clearly illegal to drive after you have been drinking alcohol, I can see, in some ways, how this might happen.  You go watch a ball game with a friend, you have more beers than you plan to have, you get in your car thinking you're okay to drive, and you get stopped and charged with a DUI.  However, on the other hand, driving under the influence is driving under the influence.  I would rather have someone get stopped and get a DUI, than get in an accident because they were driving while impaired, and kill someone or kill themselves. 

Ten or fifteen years ago, one of my friends was coming home after partying, and knew that he shouldn't be driving.  He pulled over into a pulloff and went to sleep in his truck.  A police officer found him there, and although he wasn't driving, in fact the car wasn't even running, because the keys were in the ignition and my friend was in the car, my friend was charged with DUI.  So - note to self: If you are in your vehicle and you realize you shouldn't be driving, it's never too late to make a better decision.  Pull over, park your vehicle somewhere safe and use your cell phone to call someone for a ride.  Even if it's the middle of the night, it's better to be annoyed by someone calling you in the middle of the night for a ride than it is for someone to be called saying that you have been taken to DHMC in the DART helicopter, because you were driving under the influence.  It is better to be annoyed by the "please come get me" call than the call from the state police barracks saying that you killed someone when you were driving drunk.  If you don't have a cell phone or you are not in service, pull over onto a side road well off the main highway.  Don't park somewhere in plain sight where a police officer might investigate.

And now to expose the negative.  I'm going to post the court cases from Windsor District Court, in the manner of the late, great, Connecticut Valley Spectator.  I believe, though, that the Spectator listed the people who were arraigned and what they were arraigned for.  I'm not going to do that, because I personally know at least one person who was wrongfully accused of a crime, and I don't think it's fair to put people's names out there who've been accused of a crime when they've pled not guilty.  So, that being said, the following people were judged  guilty in White River Court.

David King, DOB 8/30/89  pled guilty to a DUI charge that took place on 5/26/12.  He was fined $750, with other fees, for a total of  $1164.  If he pays it back by January, he will only have to pay a $400 fine and $314 of surcharges. 

Michael Hayes - Springfield DOB 10/18/49 guilty of shoplifting merchandise valued at under $100.

There are lots of unresolved cases in White River Court this month.  Stay tuned.