Last July, Ms Davidonis filed a civil suit in the Superior Court in Orange County, where she lives, seeking unspecified damages for police conduct that her complaint calls "malicious, wanton, willful, and outrageous." That case is pending. In mid-January, Superior Judge Timothy Tomasi gave the Attorney General's office two weeks to explain its investigation into Trooper Shaffer's actions.
Responding to the AG's press release on January 25, Ms Davidonis's attorney, Thomas Costello told the Valley News:
"History
of seizures or not, they were up there for hours before it happened. Theresa
told them he was emotionally disturbed".
The crisis was created by Shaffer going onto their property, contrary to
Theresa's commands and what the police had been doing for two hours. There is
violence and there is a shooting and there is a death. Who is doing the
shooting? Law enforcement. An emotionally disturbed person is killed by
violence by law enforcement. That demands leadership."
On the same day, attorney Edward Van Dorn announced that he would be filing a federal lawsuit seeking monetary damages from the State Police on behalf of Mason's mother, Rhonda Taylor, who lives in New Hampshire. The attorney indicated that the state's withholding of so much evidence made the suit necessary.
ACLU Questions State's Commitment to
Justice
Among those questioning AG Sorrell's willingness ever to bring an enforcement action against a Vermont police officer involved in a lethal event, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Vermont, Allen Gilbert, commented that "It's hard to know when, if ever, criminal charges might be brought in a law enforcement shooting death." The ACLU issued a statement signed by Gilbert, saying in part:
"The
Vermont Attorney General's Office has declined to bring any charges in the
fatal Macadam Mason Taser shooting last June, leaving open the question of who
bears responsibility for the death of an innocent Vermonter. The stark facts of
the case are these: A state trooper fired a weapon that killed a man. The
weapon was used in a way contrary to guidelines from the weapon's manufacturer,
Taser International".
"We
will continue to work on ways to bring about greater police accountability. We
support the establishment of a professional licensing system for police, as
there is for most other Vermont professions. Both the public and police suffer
when officers' conduct is not reviewed by an independent state board that makes
sure all officers are aware of and meet professional standards.
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