Supreme Court hears arguments in wrong-way crash murder case

January 23, 2021 | By Mike Donoghue | Correspondent

The justices of the Vermont Supreme Court hear oral arguments this week via video conference in the appeal by Steven D. Bourgoin who is seeking to have his conviction on five counts of second-degree murder overturned. Screenshot.

MONTPELIER – The Vermont Supreme Court heard arguments this week in the appeal by a Williston man seeking to overturn his convictions on five counts of second degree murder after the wrong-way crash on Interstate 89 that killed five area teenagers in 2016. 

Steven D. Bourgoin, who relied on an insanity defense in his 2019 trial, is serving a sentence of 30 years to life in prison for the five deaths and two related misdemeanor counts from the October 2016 crash. His lawyer is asking for a new trial because the prosecution failed to properly turn over evidence as required.

In oral arguments via video conference on Thursday, Chittenden County Deputy State's Attorney Andrew Gilbertson told the justices that there were no valid reasons to overturn the verdict or the rulings by the trial judge, Kevin Griffin. Gilbertson, a former public defender, urged the five justices to let the outcome of the criminal trial stand.

One issue on appeal was Chittenden County State's Attorney Sarah George failure to provide evidence or materials as required by court rules and that the conduct led to an "ambush" on Bourgoin, according to Appellate Public Defender Joshua O'Hara.

Judge Griffin did rule during the trial that the prosecution had violated the rules of discovery, but he said he believed it was not serious enough to cause a mistrial. The issue was whether the state failed to supply the defense a recorded statement from Bourgoin's ex-fiance, Anila Lawrence.

George maintained at the trial that a CD of the pre-trial interview with Lawrence had been provided to the defense and also had been mentioned in a conversation. Bourgoin’s defense Lawyer Robert Katims said his office had no record of receiving the CD and he did not recall the conversation.

Under questioning, Lawrence testified that the only detail Bourgoin had mentioned to her about the incident was that there were no wrong-way signs on I-89. Griffin agreed to strike the testimony and tell the jury to disregard it. Katims, who was assisted by defense lawyer Sara Pols, maintained that was not enough and that information prejudiced his client’s case. 

On Thursday, O'Hara also argued that just striking Lawrence’s testimony was insufficient after the jury heard it. "Certainly, the jury was left to marinate on it," O'Hara told the justices.

Another main objection by the defense was that the state waited until the 11-day trial was almost over to provide certain information from a psychiatric evaluation on behalf of George's office.

A high-profile tragedy 

The crash, investigation, and subsequent trial received much public attention. The five deaths gave it the tragic distinction of having the most homicide victims in a single case in Vermont history.

The incident happened shortly before midnight on Oct. 8, 2016 when the teens in a 2004 Volkswagen Jetta were headed home from a concert in South Burlington. Bourgoin was driving north in the southbound lane of I-89 in Williston when he crashed head-on into the Jetta which rolled over and caught on fire in the median. 

Killed in the crash were the driver, Cyrus Zschau, 16, of Moretown, and his passengers Eli Brookens, 16, of Waterbury; Janie Chase Cozzi, 15, of Fayston; Liam Hale, 16, of Fayston and Mary Harris, 16, of Moretown.  

Bourgoin, who was wearing a seatbelt, got out of his 2012 Toyota Tacoma and then stole a Williston Police cruiser belonging to an officer who had arrived and was attending to the victims. Bourgoin then fled south on I-89, made a U-turn, and returned to the scene where he crashed the cruiser into the wreckage of the first crash.

Vermont State Police estimated Bourgoin was driving at 79 miles per hour when he crashed the first time and 107 mph when he returned and crashed the cruiser into his wrecked truck. The cruiser also caught fire.

Investigation showed that six hours after the crash Bourgoin still had 10 nanograms of THC – the active ingredient in marijuana – in his system, the official drug report showed. Any level of THC in a driver in Vermont is against the law. He also had other illegal drugs in his system. 

The defense never disputed the details of the incident – only Bourgoin's sanity.

During the 2019 trial, Bourgoin’s lawyers relied on an insanity defense. They sought to show that Bourgoin thought he was hearing messages on his truck radio and computer. The prosecution argued that Bourgoin was distraught because of personal problems including a child custody battle with Lawrence, the loss of his job, and financial troubles. 

Although the state requested 40 years to life in prison for Bourgoin at sentencing, the trial judge imposed sentences of 26 years to life for each of the five deaths instructing those to be served concurrently. For stealing the police cruiser, the judge ordered another 4-5 years and added another concurrent 1-2 year for gross negligent operation of the police vehicle. 

After the sentencing, George said Bourgoin would be ineligible for furloughs or early release. 

Bourgoin, now 40, grew up in Rutland and is serving his sentence at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans Town. He attended the Supreme Court hearing by telephone on Thursday.

The court does not have a deadline to issue its decision. Such cases often can take the court 6 to 12 months to complete.