U.S. Attorney Tom Anderson and attorneys for Michael Jacques have filed conflicting legal motions regarding when a decision on pursuing the death penalty could be made.
Michael Jacques is charged with one count of kidnapping with death resulting in federal court, stemming from the death of 12-year-old Brooke Bennett, of Braintree, this past summer.
On Oct. 30, Jacques' attorneys filed a motion requesting the court push back dates in the death-penalty authorization process. The attorneys said a Jan. 1, 2009 hearing, at which they would present arguments against the death penalty, is too soon after the indictment. They argued Jacques is entitled to a more "reasonable" amount of time to build the case against that sentence and asked for the hearing to occur in April 2009.
On Friday, Anderson responded with a motion to reject the defense's motion. He based his argument on the principle of the U.S. Constitution's separation of powers. He said the court, within the judiciary branch, could not mandate changes in the internal decision-making process of the Department of Justice, which is within the executive branch.
Vermont Law School Professor Michael Mello told Fox 44 Local News by phone that filing motions such as these over scheduling issues is uncommon and shows that the case is not getting off on the right foot. He said normally attorneys pick their battles and save the big fights for the more crucial issues.
