Addison prosecutor charged with drunk driving, license suspended | News | Seven Days

The top prosecutor — and soon only one — in Addison County agreed to suspend her driver’s license after her January arrest for drunken driving.

Addison County District Attorney Eva Vekos will lose her driving license for six months for refusing to take a breathalyzer test administered by Vermont State Police in January when she was accused of driving drunk to the scene of a homicide investigation.

Vekos initially challenged the suspension of her license in a civil proceeding — a separate matter from the criminal case — but withdrew her objection late last month, ahead of a hearing scheduled for Tuesday. In agreeing to the suspension, Vekos said in an emailed statement that she was not admitting guilt. Instead, she wanted to show that “it is always better to cooperate with law enforcement.”

“We as Vermonters have the right to refuse evidentiary testing, but there are penalties for refusing,” Vekos wrote.

By using public roads, Vermont drivers are deemed to have consented to police administering a breathalyzer test, according to state law. Refusal to take a breathalyzer test is grounds for suspension of a driver’s license. It can also be introduced as evidence in a criminal trial.

For a first offense, drivers with a suspended license can apply for an alcohol interlock device after 30 days. They can drive, but must provide a breath sample without alcohol before starting the vehicle.

Vekos did not say whether she intends to use the alcohol interlock, but emphasized that the suspension will not in any way affect her ability to serve as state’s attorney.

“I intend to continue to run my office in an efficient and productive manner as I have done for the past year and a half,” she wrote.

Regardless of which route Vekos takes to get to the courthouse in Middlebury, she will face a heavy workload there.

As of next week, Vekos will be the sole prosecutor in his office. Assistant State’s Attorney Mike Novelli left June 15 to take a job with the Vermont Attorney General’s Office, which is prosecuting Vekos in the criminal case. A second part-time assistant prosecutor, Anthony Bambrick, resigned effective July 8, according to the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs.

Novelli’s successor is expected to start work in September, but until then Vekos will be on his own.

Vekos said the vacancies will not impact her ability to run her cases: “I intend to maintain a fully functional and productive office, even with the challenge of staffing shortages,” she said.

Attorneys from other counties or departments may be able to help Addison County in the coming months, said Annie Noonan, director of labor relations and operations for the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs.

Vekos said she “steadfastly” maintains her innocence in the drunk driving case and intends to take the criminal case to court.

At a hearing Tuesday in Burlington, where the case is being argued, Deputy Attorney General Rose Kennedy said she expected the trial to last two days. The parties said the case should be ready for trial by the end of this year.