Paul Vermillion was remanded to jail in Kenai on Thursday after having pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2013 death of Genghis Muskox in Cooper Landing.
At the remand hearing at the Kenai Courthouse, the Anchorage man’s defense attorney, Andrew Lambert, told the court a letter regarding Vermillion’s medical conditions will be sent to the Alaska Department of Corrections. At the Monday hearing where he changed his plea, Vermillion, 32, told Superior Court Judge Charles Huguelet he is taking medications for seizures, migraines and anxiety.
Lambert told Huguelet at the remand hearing that the ankle monitoring bracelet, which Vermillion used while staying with his third party custodian, would need to be removed.
“The ankle monitoring people have requested that it be returned,” he said.
Vermillion’s sentencing is set for Aug. 2-3, at which point Lambert will present evidence and expert testimony that he said factored into the plea agreement. During a trial call in January, District Attorney Scot Leaders had asked the court for more time after getting a report from Lambert of an analysis of the Cooper Landing crime scene that interpreted events there much differently than the analysis done by the state’s investigator.
At the time, Lambert said the report supported the self-defense argument he and other attorneys for Vermillion had pushed from the start, and both men had said the report’s findings would be significant in the trial.
At the change of plea hearing, Huguelet ordered a pre-sentence report to be written, which must be submitted 30 days before the sentencing hearing.
Manslaughter is a class A felony in Alaska, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Part of the plea agreement reached by Leaders and Lambert stipulates that Vermillion will face the presumptive range for sentencing, which is 7-11 years. The two and a half years he has served in jail and on his ankle monitor will count toward time served.
Reach Megan Pacer at megan.pacer@peninsulaclarion.com.
Photo by Megan Pacer/Peninsula Clarion Paul Vermillion, 32, is led out of the courtroom to be remanded to jail during a hearing on Thursday, April 7, 2016 at the Kenai Courthouse in Kenai, Alaska. During a hearing on Monday, April 4, Vermillion pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter for the 2013 death of Genghis Muskox in Cooper Landing.
