Sand Criticized in Springfield Case

A newly appointed prosecutor yesterday sharply criticized Windsor County State's Attorney Robert Sand's handling of a case against a Springfield, Vt., man who claimed self-defense in a fatal shooting during a 2008 brawl.

http://www.vnews.com/05012010/6572580.htm                                         Sand Criticized in Springfield Case  •  By Mark Davis  •  Valley News Staff Writer Published 5/1/2010  •  White River Junction -- A newly appointed prosecutor yesterday sharply criticized Windsor County State's Attorney Robert Sand's handling of a case against a Springfield, Vt., man who claimed self-defense in a fatal shooting during a 2008 brawl.  •  During the latest hearing in a tangled case, John Lavoie argued that his decision to reinstate a second-degree murder charge against Kyle Bolaski was done to correct Sand's mistake of filing only a manslaughter charge.  •  “A lot of mistakes were made in this case from the beginning. The way the evidence is being looked at now is very different,” said Lavoie, a Franklin County prosecutor who took over in February when Sand, under relentless pressure from the victim's family, stepped aside.  •  Bolaski, 26, says he twice shot Vincent Tamburello because Tamburello, 32, charged at him with an ax and swung it into Bolaski's truck. Sand had long argued that first shot was legally justified, since Tamburello was the aggressor, but the second shot, once Tamburello was wounded on the ground, was unnecessary and illegal.  • Yesterday, Lavoie said he has a much different view of the evidence: Even the first shot was illegal, he said. Tamburello was hitting the car, and Bolaski, instead of running away, pulled out his hunting rifle and fired.  •  “Shooting somebody who doesn't present an imminent danger to you, that's a problem right from the first shot,” Lavoie said in Windsor District Court. “This is a charge that should have been in place all along. He was not using (the ax) to attack anyone, he was using it to attack his truck. You don't have a right to kill somebody because they’re beating up your truck.”  •  Sand did not respond to requests for comment late yesterday.  •  The prosecutors' difference of opinion is far more than a legal debate: It means Bolaski, instead of facing a lesser penalty for manslaughter, could serve a maximum of life in prison.  •  Yesterday's discussion came during an arraignment on the second-degree murder charge. After Bolaski pleaded not guilty, Lavoie asked that Bolaski be held without bail, igniting an exchange with defense attorney Kevin Griffin.  •  Bolaski has been free on $10,000 bail since the 2008 shooting and has cooperated with authorities, never attempted to flee and shown up for his mandatory hearings, said Griffin, who has repeatedly voiced frustration at the decision to upgrade charges against Bolaski.  •  “There has not been one new piece of investigation or new report or newly discovered evidence turned over to us in any shape or form,” Griffin said. “The only thing that's changed is who is prosecuting.”  •  Judge Theresa DiMauro expressed reservations about the low amount of bail Bolaski was initially given -- she did not preside over his initial arraignment -- and raised it yesterday to $100,000. Bolaski, who walked into court a free man, was taken into custody by sheriff's deputies, but expected to quickly pay the extra $90,000 and be released.  •  
The case is poised to go to trial, perhaps as soon as August.  •  Lawyers have argued for almost two years about Bolaski's claim of self-defense.  •  According to documents and previous court hearings, Tamburello, 32, who recently had moved to Vermont from Boston, and others were feuding with Bolaski's friends over a woman and drugs. The groups clashed at Mackenzie Field in Chester, Vt., where Tamburello stepped out of his car with an ax, ran to Bolaski's truck and hacked it several times.  •  Bolaski grabbed a .30-06-caliber hunting rifle in his truck and shot Tamburello in the left leg. Tamburello fell to the ground, and Bolaski fired a second, fatal shot.  •  Bolaski told police that he fired the second shot because Tamburello kept coming toward him, but the Vermont Medical Examiner's Office ruled that Tamburello died from a gunshot to his back.  •  In a rare move, Sand voluntarily presented Bolaski's case to a grand jury, to see if the panel thought there was enough evidence to justify proceeding with the murder case. (In New Hampshire, grand juries are routinely convened to decide whether to proceed with felony charges. In Vermont, they are rarely used, and prosecutors almost always proceed to a regular jury trial.)  •  The grand jury refused to issue a murder indictment. While its decision was not binding, Sand said it convinced him that he could not win a guilty verdict on murder, so he dropped the charge and settled for manslaughter.  •  But Tamburello's family, in Boston, hired an attorney and lambasted Sand, saying he was letting Bolaski off easy.  •  In February, Sand recused himself and handed the case to Lavoie.  •  Griffin, meanwhile, has been critical of the prosecutors' handling of the case and says the unending back and forth -- Bolaski was initially charged with murder, then saw the charge abandoned, only to have it reinstated-- is unfair.  •  “I think the procedural history in this case is outrageous,” Griffin said in an interview yesterday. “Simply because the family pressured the State's Attorney's Office to get out of the case, they disregarded the will of the grand jury. ... It’s been self-defense from the beginning. The good news is, they can’t take a jury away from us. We're going to trust a Windsor County jury.”  •  But Tamburello's family said they were relieved that Lavoie had filed more severe charges.  •  “We finally have a prosecutor in there that's doing the job,” Vincent Tamburello Sr. said. “It should have been done all along. I can't tell you what a relief it is to me and my family that someone is speaking up for justice in Vermont.”  •