MIDDLEBURY — Addison County State’s Attorney Eva Vekos on Monday afternoon, Feb. 12, pleaded not guilty in Addison Superior Court, Criminal Division, to a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence.

Vekos was released on her own recognizance following the 8.5-minute proceeding heard by Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Zonay before a packed courtroom, filled with local and state media, municipal officials, local businesspeople and folks who were just plain curious.

For the first time since her 2022 election as the county’s top prosecutor, Vekos, 54, found herself sitting at the defendant’s desk in a Middlebury courthouse proceeding. Vekos offered few words during the arraignment; her attorney, David Sleigh, is handling her defense and was at her side on Monday.

Representing the state at the arraignment was Vermont Assistant Attorney General Rosemary M. Kennedy.

Neither Vekos nor Sleigh offered any comments following the arraignment. The release of previously withheld court documents shed additional light on the case, including that Vekos had allegedly used her scarf to at times shield her mouth and nose while at the scene of her Jan. 26 arrest by Vermont State Police, and that she also allegedly raised the notion of police “discretion” during troopers’ investigation.

It was on Thursday, Jan. 26, that Vekos was arrested for suspicion of driving while under the influence after she showed up to inspect the scene of a suspicious death at a home at 748 Swinton Road in Bridport. The investigation into the death of 44-year-old Stephen Nuciolo Sr. remains active and ongoing. State police on Monday listed the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the head, but the circumstances leading to his death are still being probed.

It is not unusual for a state’s attorney to be called to the scene of a possible felony crime to have a look before it is cleaned up.

Court records released on Monday include affidavits filed by seven state police officials who played a role in investigating Vekos’s alleged DUI. Among them was Sgt. Eden Neary, a certified DUI instructor, a certified Drug Recognition Expert and full-time patrol commander based at the Rutland barracks. It was Neary who was asked to process Vekos for DUI at the New Haven barracks.

“While speaking with Vekos, I detected a moderate odor of intoxicants emanating from her, her eyes were watery, and she had mumbled speech at times,” Neary wrote in his affidavit.

“Vekos… asked me if I knew that discretion was allowed, and I informed her we as a department do not take discretion with DUI,” Neary stated in his affidavit.

Neary said Vekos insisted there was no DUI, there was alcohol on the breath and alleged slurred speech, according to court documents. Neary told Vekos there were “enough indicators to request an evidentiary test, which I told her she knew as a state’s attorney, and she said she disagreed,” according to Neary’s affidavit.

“She then stated this was going to damage the relationship with her office which she has worked hard to build with law enforcement because Ryan doesn’t know how to apply discretion and didn’t go to his supervisors,” Neary’s affidavit reads. Presumably, he was referring to Det. Trooper Anthony Ryan.

Vekos allegedly told Neary at this point she wasn’t going to answer questions, according to court documents.

“She told me she came out to participate in a homicide investigation, just doing her job,” Neary said. “I told her that’s where her discretion could have been used, and she asked in what way, and I said if she knew she had a drink or two, the fact of the matter was, there were enough indicators to ask for a test, she didn’t do any tests on scene. Vekos responded, a judge will decide that, and I told her that’s true, but based on my training and experience, there were enough indicators.”

Vekos declined to speak to an attorney before deciding whether to submit to an evidentiary test — which she elected not to take, according to Neary. She also declined to have fingerprints and/or photos taken, with one exception, according to police: She asked to have photos taken of the marks the handcuffs had allegedly made in her wrists.

DROVE HERSELF

State police said Vekos showed up at the Swinton Road home at around 8:52 p.m., having driven there in her personal vehicle.

VSP Det. Sgt. Steven Gelder noted in his affidavit that “The purpose of this encounter was for Eva Vekos to walk through the residence with members of the VSP Crime Scene Search Team, as well as detectives assigned to the VSP Bureau of Criminal Investigations who were investigating the death.”

Addison County State’s Attorney Eva Vekos enters the courtroom in the Mahaney Courthouse in Middlebury on Monday afternoon and prepares to sit at the defendant’s table, rather than the prosecutor’s. She pleaded not guilty to a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol. Assistant Attorney General Rosemary M. Kennedy was prosecutor on Monday. Pool photos by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

Gelder said at one point, the group of investigators had gathered at the doorway of a bedroom in the home. During this time, Vekos was standing to the left of Gelder, bumping into him at one point, according to court documents.

“I believed she was simply trying to see the scene better, however, at this time I also detected a strong odor of intoxicants emanating from her,” reads Gelder’s statement. “Eva Vekos initially had a large, grey-colored scarf covering her mouth, however, while she stood in the room, the scarf moved away from her mouth. I again detected a strong odor of intoxicants emanating from her.”

Trooper Robert Lemnah, another state police official at the scene, alleged the odor of intoxicants coming from Vekos was apparent in spite of a strong odor of cigarettes within the Bridport home.

“I noticed Vekos repeatedly pulling her thick scarf over her mouth and nose while she was inside the house,” Lemnah stated in his affidavit. “I also noticed Vekos slurring her speech as she was on scene and asking questions.”

Another VSP official at the scene, Det. Trooper Mengbei Wang, stated in his affidavit that he, too, “‘noticed a strong odor of intoxicants emanating from Vekos’s person. I also noticed Vekos pulling her thick scarf over her mouth and nose while she was inside of the house. I also noticed Vekos’s slurring of her speech as she was on scene and asking questions.”

Det. Trooper Anthony Ryan said he asked Vekos how much alcohol she had consumed, and she allegedly replied, “one gin & tonic,” approximately one hour prior. Ryan said Vekos, at that point, had been on scene around 30 minutes.

Then — after consulting with Gelder and Lt. Det. Chris Barber — Ryan said he asked Vekos to undergo standardized field sobriety tests (SFSTs) prior to allowing her to her leave the scene in her vehicle. She refused.

“Vekos asked me, ‘Are you serious, Ryan, can’t you just have a friend come and get me?’” Ryan wrote in his affidavit. “I told Vekos that was not an option and asked her to undergo SFSTs, or she would be placed under arrest.”

Vekos, according to Ryan, allegedly replied, “It doesn’t matter if I do the tests or not, however I perform, you’re going to take me under arrest.”

Ryan disagreed, asked (Vekos) again to take the field sobriety tests, whereupon she again declined, and told Ryan to place her under arrest, according to court records.

It was State Police Trooper Kelsey Dobson who drove Vekos from Bridport to the New Haven barracks.

“I placed Vekos in handcuffs, searched Vekos, and placed Vekos in the back of my marked cruiser. While interacting with Vekos, I detected the odor of intoxicants emanating from her person.”

Dobson, in his affidavit, said that upon arrival at the barracks, “Vekos appeared unstable on her feet while exiting my cruiser and walking to the processing room.”

Prior to adjourning Monday’s arraignment proceeding, Judge Zonay agreed to switch the venue of the case to Chittenden County.

DUI, first offense, is a misdemeanor and carries a potential sentence of up to two years in prison and/or $750 fine.

Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected].