Dear Editor,
The criminal charges filed by the Rutland State’s Attorneys Office against Mr. Mosher are overreaching and should be totally dropped. An involuntary manslaughter charge (felony) against the responsible owner of a cow killed by a car—in light of strong facts suggesting fault may lie with the auto driver—seems very unreasonable.
As a Killington property owner, I urge Attorney General Sorrell to personally investigate this matter and use his skills to craft a reasonable solution—including one that instructs the State’s Attorney who filed the case to drop all the charges.
Why? Craig Mosher acts, and acted, in a practical and reasonable manner with respect to managing his livestock. As someone who drives by his location on more or less a daily basis between October and May each year, I find that the street lighting is bright and the fences and animals are well kept.
More importantly, Mr. Mosher is a local business owner and hero.
Simply put, punishing a leader and economic creator after losing his cow to a car driven by a third party at a high speed is inconsistent with Vermont values.
In fact, Mr. Mosher really knows Vermont values. During the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, for example, without the tireless services of Mr. Mosher, Killington would have spent even more than the three weeks with no road access via Route 4 in and out of town. Mr. Mosher and his team can be seen fixing roads and bridges daily in the Killington region.
Please note, I have never met Mr. Mosher personally. After following his case in the media, I decided to reach out due to the serious charges brought by the State’s Attorneys Office.
Finally, as a fellow lawyer with material courtroom and educational experiences (i.e. successfully concluding a case in front of Chief Judge Christina Reis in Rutland Federal Court and educational training at the Vermont Law School and Cornell University), the charges here far exceed the facts and circumstances.
Accordingly, the case should be dropped.
Respectfully submitted, Gabriel M. Selig, Esq. (Cornell University Class of 1989), Killington
