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Anonymous Officer’s Story Threatens Rooney Case

Published: Friday, November 10, 2006
By Adam Silverman, Free Press Staff Writer

The man accused of sexually assaulting and killing a University of Vermont student last month wants the case thrown out after a local weekly newspaper published an article by an "anonymous cop" about the investigation.

Brian L. Rooney's attorney argued in court papers submitted Thursday that the article is so harmful to the ability to find impartial jurors that dismissing the case is the only suitable response.

"Agents of the state have deliberately disseminated highly inflammatory and prejudicial comments to the press," lawyer David Sleigh of St. Johnsbury wrote in his three-page motion.

Rooney, 36, of Richmond has pleaded not guilty to a charge of aggravated murder in connection with the Oct. 7 abduction, assault and killing of Michelle Gardner-Quinn, 21, of Arlington, Va., a UVM senior majoring in environmental studies. Gardner-Quinn vanished after a night out with friends in downtown Burlington and a chance encounter with Rooney in which he allegedly lent her his cell phone.

Rooney is jailed without bail pending trial and faces life in prison if convicted. Police say DNA evidence ties Rooney conclusively to the crime.

Prosecutor Justin Jiron, a deputy Chittenden County state's attorney, said he had yet to receive Sleigh's motion and could not comment on it. Jiron also declined to describe his reaction to the anonymous article, but said the piece was something neither his office nor law enforcement would condone.

"I view this release as an unauthorized release," said Burlington Police Chief Thomas Tremblay, whose department led the massive investigation. "Any release should have come through us."

The article's author is an FBI agent, said Paul Holstein, a bureau lawyer and spokesman based in the Albany, N.Y, headquarters for the division that includes Vermont's FBI office.

"We're not happy with it, and we'll take steps to ensure it doesn't happen again," Holstein said. "We take it very seriously when we have an unauthorized media contact, and it also is an issue because we have a policy that we do not discuss ongoing investigations or prosecutions."

The article
The article in question, printed Wednesday in the Burlington publication Seven Days, describes the agent's involvement in the investigation, the strength of the state's case and, in vivid detail, his visceral, angry reaction to the crime. The author never used Rooney's name, but the suspect's identity is clear.

The piece describes the suspect as "evil," a "sexual predator" and a "two-legged hyena" who preyed on a vulnerable, trusting woman. The article presents no shred of doubt that the man police arrested is Gardner-Quinn's killer.

Sleigh contends the article, coupled with a Burlington police officer's recent appearance on a national cable news program, has destroyed Rooney's chance to receive a fair trial anywhere in the state. Sleigh said moving the case wouldn't help: "To where? Mars?"

The publicity "went well beyond what was necessary to inform the public about alleged criminal behavior, the arrest of a suspect and the commencement of legal proceedings," Sleigh wrote in his motion. "The state has intentionally and maliciously endeavored to deprive him of a fair trial."

Vermont Law School professor Michael Mello said he thinks a judge will allow the case against Rooney to continue, but publication of the article has shrouded the proceedings in a "toxic cloud" and given a substantial boost to Rooney's ability to win a plea bargain.

"This is wildly unethical. I don't know what this guy was thinking," Mello said. "This has given the defendant the opportunity to escape the very justice the cop is purporting to support."

Aggravated murder is the most serious charge Vermont prosecutors can bring and carries a mandatory sentence of life with no chance for parole. One rung lower on the ladder is first-degree murder, which carries a penalty of 35 years to life in prison. Second-degree murder is punishable by a term of 20 years to life.

'Freedom of expression'
Seven Days co-publisher and editor Pamela Polston said the author requested anonymity, and the paper granted the request after verifying the officer's identity. Polston declined to share her reaction to Sleigh's request to dismiss the case, but she defended the paper's decision to publish the piece.

"We stand behind the freedom of expression of every citizen, including that of law-enforcement officers, and, like all newspapers, offer a forum to our readers for that expression," she said.

Sleigh said the officer went too far.

"This is an intentional comment on the strength of the state's case with the sole purpose of influencing potential jurors," he said in an interview.

Although Burlington was the primary agency on the case, the investigation swelled to include some 70 local, state and federal officers from 30 agencies during the weeklong search for Gardner-Quinn, whose body remained hidden at Huntington Gorge in Richmond for nearly a week after she was killed.

Tremblay said an inquiry into the article uncovered the author's identity, and the incident was referred to the FBI "as a personnel matter."

Neither Tremblay nor Holstein, the FBI spokesman, would provide the writer's name. Holstein declined to comment on potential disciplinary ramifications the agent might face.

Prosecutors are expected to file a written response to Sleigh's motion next week in Vermont District Court in Burlington. Sleigh has requested a hearing on the matter, although a judge could issue a ruling based solely on arguments in the legal papers.

Contact Adam Silverman at 660-1854 or asilverm@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com