Accused Burlington Shooter Plans Insanity Defense

Jason Eaton, the man charged in the 2023 shooting of three Palestinian college students in Burlington, now plans to argue he was legally insane at the time. (vtdigger.org) Eaton’s lawyers filed notice of that defense in Chittenden County Superior Court this week, days after Judge John Pacht ruled that Eaton was competent to stand trial. Jury selection remains scheduled for June 1, and Pacht said on April 22 that he would not delay the trial “for now.” (vtdigger.org) The case stems from the November 2023 shooting of Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad as they walked in Burlington’s Old North End during Thanksgiving break. Prosecutors charged Eaton with three counts of attempted second-degree murder, and each count carries a potential life sentence. (vermontpublic.org) Competency and insanity are different questions in Vermont court. Competency asks whether a defendant can understand the case and help with a defense now; insanity asks whether a mental disease or defect left the person unable to appreciate the criminality of the conduct or conform to the law at the time of the act. (vermontpublic.org) (legislature.vermont.gov) Under Vermont law, insanity is an affirmative defense, which means Eaton’s lawyers must prove it by a preponderance of the evidence after the state proves the charged crimes beyond a reasonable doubt. Vermont law also requires notice when a defendant intends to rely on insanity and allows court-ordered mental-health examinations after that notice is filed. (legislature.vermont.gov 1) (legislature.vermont.gov 2) Pacht’s April 14 ruling found that Eaton understood the charges and legal process, even though he had described being directed by the Central Intelligence Agency and Israeli intelligence through an FM radio and Bluetooth. The judge wrote that Eaton’s statements showed a “distortion of reality,” not a complete break from it, and noted that Eaton had acknowledged his beliefs could be wrong. (vermontpublic.org) At a March 2 competency hearing, defense expert Dr. Fabien Saleh said Eaton was psychotic and lacked a rational understanding of the case. Eaton had also tried to move the prosecution to federal court so he could pursue a “public authority” defense based on his claim that he acted under government orders. (vermontpublic.org) Police have said Eaton stepped off his porch without speaking and opened fire on the three friends. Awartani was shot in the spine and paralyzed from the waist down, according to Vermont Public’s reporting after the competency ruling. (vermontpublic.org) An insanity defense does not end the case; it changes what the trial must decide and can add more expert testimony, more hearings and more time. For now, the June 1 trial date is still on the calendar, and the next fight is likely to center on whether Eaton’s mental state in November 2023 meets Vermont’s legal test for insanity. (vtdigger.org) (legislature.vermont.gov)