LYNDON, Vt. (AP) - A Vermont man who was paralyzed after being shot by state police during an alleged crime spree last year has asked to be released from prison so he can live with his mother on home detention as he awaits trial.
Eric Jackson’s lawyer, defense attorney David Sleigh, filed a home detention motion Monday in Caledonia Superior Court and said that the prison medical wing is not the proper place for the Lyndon man, who now must use a wheelchair.
“A leg infection threatens the amputation of one of the defendant’s feet, a threat apparently exacerbated by an inability to get necessary medical care at (the) Springfield prison where he is held,” Sleigh said in the motion.
Sleigh said 27-year-old Jackson is not a safety risk due to his inability to flee, The Caledonian Record reported (https://bit.ly/1Kk1xcQ ).
Jackson is facing 18 criminal charges after allegedly escaping from furlough and his probation officers, stealing multiple cars and hitting two Vermont State Police cruisers in late May 2014. Police shot him multiple times.
Jackson is being held on $200,000 bail at the Southern State Correctional facility where he makes trips to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
The state’s attorneys in Caledonia, Orange and Essex counties - all of which have charged Jackson - have opposed his request.
The state’s attorney for Caledonia County, Lisa Warren, filed an objection in Superior Court, pointing out that Jackson had escaped from the Department of Corrections.
Essex County State’s Attorney Vince Illuzzi was initially in favor of the motion, but ended up reiterating Warren’s concerns upon finding out about Jackson’s charges in other counties.
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