Federal magistrate seals records over threats to Gov. Shumlin

The prosecutor at Dakota Gardner's arraignment Monday argued that court documents that described alleged threats be sealed. http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20120501/NEWS07/120430025/Federal-magistrate-seals-records-over-threats-Gov-Shumlin-?odyssey=nav%7Chead

Federal magistrate seals records over threats to Gov. Shumlin 6:35 AM, May. 1, 2012 | Burlington Free Press Written by Matt Ryan The “horrific things” inmate Dakota Gardner threatened to do to Gov. Peter Shumlin’s wife and children are too inflammatory and gruesome to be made public, a prosecutor argued Monday during Gardner’s arraignment in federal court. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina Nolan urged federal Magistrate John Conroy to seal court documents that described the alleged threats, saying their release would violate the governor’s family’s right to privacy and could jeopardize Gardner’s right to a fair trial. Gardner, 21, of Springfield did not object, and Conroy ordered the documents sealed. The judge said although the court seldom orders that type of secrecy, he agreed with the prosecution’s argument. Prosecutors allege that Gardner, while incarcerated on a previous charge at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, mailed letters containing threats to kidnap and injure Shumlin and members of his family, and also sent threats to kill President Barack Obama. Gardner also stands accused of threatening to bomb the Asa Bloomer State Office Building in Rutland, where the U.S. Social Security Administration office is located, and to injure Frederica Schneider, a Social Security employee in Rutland. The alleged threats, Conroy said Monday, contained language pertaining to torture and murder. Gardner denied the allegations at his arraignment in U.S. District Court in Burlington. He also told Conroy he had been seeing a psychiatrist in prison. Conroy ordered lawyers in the case to file pretrial motions by July 30. The judge also granted the prosecution’s motion to detain Gardner until the court resolves his case. Conroy said Gardner had a history of violent crime, and attorneys in the case likely would explore the defendant’s mental health. Prosecutors allege that Gardner sent the threats while serving time for a probation violation related to a 2009 aggravated assault in Brattleboro. A four-count indictment handed up March 28 by a federal grand jury in Rutland accuses Gardner of one count of making threats against the president of the United States and three counts of mailing threatening communications. Meanwhile, authorities continue to investigate what they have characterized as an assault of another inmate that took place in Gardner’s cell April 23 at Southern State Correctional Facility. Inmate Ryan John, 19, was found near death after an asphyxiation incident, authorities said.