Dear Editor,
In response to John Paul Faignant’s letter of May 5, 2016, in the Rutland Herald entitled “Rose Kennedy passes hard test”–
First of all Mr. Faignant is obviously biased in his assessment of Ms. Kennedy’s judgment. Either that or he is just a poor judge of words he uses in his letter. His statement “a person was killed after colliding with an animal” assumes and infers that someone did the “killing,” not that the person died as the result of the accident. No one “killed” John Bellis, he died either as a result of hitting and killing the bull which apparently landed on the car, or from the impact of the car hitting a tree when it went off the road. For all we know he could’ve died from a heart attack.
Here’s a dictionary set of synonyms for kill: murder, take/end the life of, assassinate, eliminate, terminate, dispatch, finish off, put to death, execute. I hardly think this is the case here. Mosher didn’t murder, assassinate, eliminate, terminate, dispatch or execute anyone and to infer such is to mislead and subtly influence the reader instead of clearly stating the facts in a neutral fashion.
I don’t know what motivated Ms. Kennedy’s move to indict Mosher but I sure hope it wasn’t for self-aggrandizement, as she has shown a penchant for ambitious career advancement.
I would think a person in her position would use sound and nuanced judgment in cases like this. A price has already been paid. All parties in this tragedy have suffered. Remedies have been administered as the Bellis family have reached a civil settlement. What purpose is to be served to revisit, prolong and increase the suffering?
This is the real test. Is there a point to continuing this tragedy? For if it is self-aggrandizement it would show a severe lack of judgment and certainly does not pass any test and just reflects blind ambition.
Do we really need this prosecution, which is sending shock waves of panic amongst farmers, livestock owners, and even pet owners, not just in Vermont but nationwide, who fear if something happens involving their animals they can be prosecuted?
Vito Rasenas, Killington
