On September 3, 2005, Gilbert, 28, of Charlemont, MA, allegedly shot and killed Bartlett, 50, of Jacksonville, who had been picking berries in Whitingham. Gilbert was arrested and faces charges of manslaughter. If convicted, Gilbert faces one to 15 years in prison, a fine of $3,000 or both.
According to police reports, Bartlett drove to Lone Pine Road, a remote area in Whitingham near the Massachusetts border, to pick berries on Saturday afternoon, September 3, 2005. When he failed to return home by early evening, Bartlett’s wife, Toni Bartlett, drove to the location, where she found his vehicle parked in a pull-off. Bartlett’s father, Francis Bartlett, called the Vermont State Police, who located Bartlett’s body near some berry bushes, a short distance from a trail that runs along the power transmission lines in that area. Upon examination, Vermont State Police discovered that Bartlett was the victim of a gunshot wound. Severe trauma in his left shoulder was consistent with a large-caliber gunshot wound. On the following day, the state police received a call from Douglas Annear, who told officers that his nephews, Brian Gilbert and Corey Gilbert, had been involved in the shooting of Bartlett while bear hunting in the area where the body was found.
On January 3, Windham District Court Judge Karen Carroll dismissed second-degree murder charges against Gilbert. She ruled that the facts presented by the state could support a finding of criminal negligence and involuntary manslaughter, but questioned whether the facts could support “an actual awareness and disregard for human life.” Carroll did not believe the facts matched the state’s argument and dismissed the charges.
Carroll also denied the defense’s request to suppress statements Gilbert made to police. Defense attorney Kevin Griffin argued the evidence should have been suppressed because Gilbert was in custody at the time he made the statements and was not allowed to leave during that time. Griffin argued that the Miranda warning and the right to an attorney were required to be provided to Gilbert, but Carroll ruled the defendant was not entitled to those rights because evidence showed that his freedom of movement was not restricted. In her decision she said Gilbert was never placed under house arrest and was not under “a police dominating atmosphere.”
Carroll also denied a request made by Gilbert’s original public defender, Mimi Brill. Brill requested the court suppress testimony made by Warren Buttle, of the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife. Buttle conducted trajectory and visibility analyses of the shooting, but Brill thought that Buttle’s information was “the direct fruits of an illegally obtained confession.” She also argued that the analyses performed by the Vermont Fish and Game Department were done after the Vermont Forensic Lab refused to do the analysis at the scene of the shooting. Depositions of lab personnel revealed that their refusal to do the analysis “was based on their judgment... that there was insufficient information to do the analysis and is therefore inadmissible under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.” Despite Brill’s argument, Carroll found that the methods employed by the Vermont Fish and Game Department were reliable and admissible for the trial.
The case was set to begin January 28 but the trial was postponed as the defense asked for more time. Griffin requested more witnesses to testify on Gilbert’s behalf. Carroll granted his request.
On August 29, the state asked Carroll to not allow Dr. Peter Tse, an associate professor of psychology and brain sciences at Dartmouth College, to testify about the fallibility of human perception, memory, and related topics. Tse will attempt to explain that Gilbert suffered from a condition called “premature closure,” in which the individual begins to focus on what he believes and expects to see, and the mind forms an image of that particular object. Carroll was expected to render a decision on allowing Tse to testify but has yet to do so. Gilbert will be tried at Windham District Court in Brattleboro.
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