The town has asked the countyâs top law enforcement officer to reverse course.
Last year, Stateâs Attorney Rory Thibault asked the Vermont attorney generalâs office to look into two drug cases where it appeared Chief John Helfant, who was an officer in Berlin at the time, had not been given consent to search people he arrested though he said in court affidavits he had been given consent.
The first case involved a Massachusetts man who was sentenced to time served on felony drug charges. Thibault said his office was made aware of a âmaterial discrepancyâ between what Helfant put in his affidavit and what the body camera footage shows of the incident.