MIDDLEBURY - The Honorable William K. Sessions, chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Vermont, passed the gavel to Middlebury Union High School students on Tuesday, sharing with them specific cases from his work in the federal courts system, and giving them the opportunity to determine how they would deliver a sentence. Sessions' roots are deep in Addison County. The Cornwall resident graduated from Middlebury College in 1969, served as a public defender for Addison County from 1974 to 1978 and formed the Middlebury law firm Sessions, Keiner, Dumont and Barnes. His wife, Abigail, has served as principal of Salisbury Elementary School, and his three children, Hannah, Myra and Jonathan, all graduated from MUHS. [continues 693 words]
MIDDLEBURY -- An Addison County District Court jury on Friday found a Goshen man guilty of cultivating a large crop of marijuana on his property, but found him innocent on an added charge of possession of the substance, which he said he was using to treat chronic pain stemming from a horrific accident he'd suffered more than 30 years ago. The jury's verdict, rendered after more than seven hours of deliberations at the Addison County Courthouse, saw defendant Stephen Bryant successfully use the state's rarely-invoked "defense of necessity" -- through which he and his lawyers argued that Bryant had no choice but to engage in a criminal activity (using marijuana) to remedy an emergency situation (bouts of excruciating pain). [continues 1180 words]
