BENNINGTON — A Massachusetts man is being held without bail in Vermont on multiple felony charges, including sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Bennington. He has pleaded not guilty and is questioning whether police have arrested the right man.
The defendant, Denzel Lafayette, 24, is accused of meeting up with a 15-year-old girl whom he met on social media and sexually assaulting her in Bennington last summer. Police said he was carrying a handgun when he saw the girl; he didn’t brandish or use the firearm, court records show.
Besides the girl, two other people saw him in the area where he met with her, according to Bennington police’s statement of probable cause in the case.
Lafayette is now facing charges of sexual assault-no consent, sexual exploitation by luring a child and carrying a weapon while committing a felony. He is charged also with possession of child pornography, which police said stems from Lafayette’s possessing nude images of the girl.
His most serious charge, sexual assault, is punishable by up to life in prison. The rest carry a maximum prison sentence of five years each.
Lafayette, a resident of Springfield, Mass., was arrested last month. He pleaded not guilty to his charges in Superior Court on March 3.
The court ordered him held without bail because of the potential life sentence attached to this sexual assault charge, citing great evidence of guilt. He has since been jailed at Marble Valley Correctional Facility, in Rutland.
Question of identity
Lafayette is now appealing with the Vermont Supreme Court his eligibility for bail, saying the Bennington Superior Court didn’t consider the weaknesses in the prosecution’s case against him.
He specifically questions whether Bennington police arrested the right man. He said Det. Anthony Silvestro’s statement of probable cause omitted and altered details given by the girl and a witness about the perpetrator’s appearance — details that didn’t match Lafayette’s appearance and could have excluded him from suspicion.
For instance, said defense attorney Rick Burgoon, the witnesses told Silvestro that the perpetrator had a goatee, silver caps on his upper teeth and no tattoos. In contrast, Lafayette has a full beard, no silver caps on his upper teeth and multiple tattoos, Burgoon told the Supreme Court.
In Silvestro’s affidavit, Burgoon said the detective didn’t present the full picture that the witnesses gave him. Silvestro described the perpetrator as having facial hair — rather than specifically a goatee — and didn’t include the matter of silver teeth caps and tattoos.
“Law enforcement presented an incomplete story to the state. The state then, in turn, provided that incomplete story to the trial court,” Burgoon said in oral arguments Thursday before Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Reiber and justices Harold Eaton Jr. and Karen Carroll.
“There is no excuse for a law enforcement official, particularly one with Det. Silvestro’s vast experience, to make that change unless it was intended to misdirect the identification issue,” the defense lawyer said.
Request for bail
Burgoon earlier asked Bennington Superior Judge Cortland Corsones to consider the witnesses’ full statements, not just the detective’s affidavit, in Lafayette’s request for bail. The court ruled that material not contained in the affidavit couldn’t be considered at this point.
The prosecutor, Deputy State’s Attorney Alex Burke, asked the justices Thursday to affirm the Superior Court’s decision to hold Lafayette without bail. He asserted that the witnesses “did properly identify” Lafayette as the perpetrator of the sexual assault.
He said it would ultimately be up to the fact finder, such as a jury, to determine how much weight to give to the witness statements that weren’t included in the police affidavit.
Burgoon said that with jury trials still frozen, Lafayette might have to wait about a year before he can present his case to a jury.
The Supreme Court’s decision is pending. It’s unclear when it will issue a ruling.
"right" - Google News
April 23, 2021 at 04:29AM
https://ift.tt/3azYYG1
Man appeals detention without bail, questions if police arrested the right person - Bennington Banner
"right" - Google News
https://ift.tt/32Okh02
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Man appeals detention without bail, questions if police arrested the right person - Bennington Banner"
Post a Comment