Chittenden County prosecutors rested their case on Tuesday in the trial of Jason Eaton, the man accused of shooting and wounding three Palestinian college students in November 2023. The case will now shift towards determining Eaton’s mental state at the time of the alleged crime.
The jury heard testimony over the first day and half of the trial from more than a dozen witnesses, including the three victims, law enforcement officials and forensic analysts.
According to trial testimony, Eaton stepped off a porch and, without speaking, shot Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad while they were on a walk. All three survived, but Awartani was left paralyzed from the waist down.
On Tuesday, police testified that during a search of Eaton’s apartment after his arrest they found a Ruger pistol and .380 caliber rounds of ammunition.
Burlington police detective Zachary Beal told the jury that he found the Ruger pistol in the top draw of a dresser, along with loose rounds of ammunition.
“These rounds were distinct,” Beal said. “They were consistent with the rounds that were found in the Ruger handgun.”
Eaton bought the Ruger at a Williston gun shop in April 2023, according to testimony on Tuesday from Bryan Smith, the co-owner of Powderhorn Outdoor Sports.
The longest testimony on Tuesday morning came from Harry Jeppe, a firearms expert at the Vermont Forensic Lab.
Jeppe testified that based on his examination and testing, the .380 caliber casings found at the crime scene on North Prospect Street were fired by the Ruger found in Eaton’s apartment.
The prosecution, Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George and Deputy State’s Attorney Sally Adams, rested their case after Jeppe’s testimony.
Tuesday’s trial proceedings wrapped up shortly after lunch with a brief procedural hearing where Eaton’s public defenders filed a motion arguing that the state hadn’t proven its case.
Eaton faces three charges of attempted second-degree murder and could face a life sentence if convicted. Margaret Jansch, one of Eaton’s attorneys, told Judge John Pacht that the state hadn’t proven there was any intent to kill during the shooting.
Pacht disagreed and denied the motion.
“I think the case law is pretty clear when someone uses a gun to shoot at someone else without justification,” Pacht said.
The trial will now shift towards arguments about whether Eaton was legally insane at the time of the shooting. The defense plans to call a psychiatrist to testify that Eaton suffers from delusions, including a belief that government intelligence agencies commanded him through the radio to carry out the shooting.
The state will also present testimony from their own mental health expert who they say will refute Eaton’s insanity defense.
