As those who have been following the saga of Rosemarie Jackowski know(most recently diaried by Kestrel here Rosemarie (Updated), the VT Supreme Court overturned her conviction on a technicality. After overturning the conviction, the outgoing State's Attorney for Bennington County, William Wight, declared that he was going to retry Rosemarie.
Unfortunately, due to a variety of circumstances, Rosemarie was having trouble finding another lawyer to defend her, as well as facing rising legal costs. Well, today brought a bit of sunshine to her case: She may not need that lawyer after all. Follow me to extended for the details.
I had asked in the comments to Kestrel's most recent diary (they've done a great job of keeping the DK community updated on the case), whether the incoming State's Attorney for Bennington County, Erica Marthage, was going to continue to prosecute the case. I had seen her a few minutes before reading Kestrel's diary, and unfortunately forgot to ask Erica what her views were. So it was doubly nice to read in today's Bennington Banner:
Jackowski may escape retrial
The incoming state's attorney, Erica Marthage, says she has some changes she's going to make to the county prosecutor's office. One of those is dropping the case against a protesting grandmother whose conviction was overturned by the Vermont Supreme Court.
One case that's received considerable publicity is the anti-war protester Rosemarie Jackowski, 69, whose conviction for disorderly conduct was recently overturned by the Vermont Supreme Court. Current State's Attorney Wright said Jackowski will face a retrial in Bennington County, but Marthage said she is going to try to get the case dismissed.
"The state's already spent $40,000 to prosecute a misdemeanor," Marthage said. "You get one bite at the apple for disorderly conduct."
While it's not a done deal yet, this was quite a Christmas present for a wonderful woman who has been protesting this war from the very beginning. This is something that I think Bennington County clearly supports, as evidenced by the various LTE, which number about 5 to 1 in Rosemarie's favor.
Rosemarie was willing to face any conviction she received, and do so as a model prisoner. But as Erica Marthage said--you get one shot at a misdemeanor. There's no reason to spend another $40,000 to convict a 69-year old grandmother for disorderly conduct.
As the details are finalized, and (hopefully), the case is finally dropped, I'm sure Kestrel (or myself) will post. In the meantime, keep Rosemarie in your thoughts this Christmas season.