A federal judge has denied a bid by attorneys for Teresa Youngblut for more time to convince prosecutors not to file charges that carry the death penalty against their client. Youngblut is currently being held on other charges in connection with the fatal shooting of a U.S. border patrol agent in northern Vermont.
Judge Christina Reiss’s ruling, made public Monday afternoon, was soon met by a filing by Youngblut’s defense team seeking reconsideration of that decision. The judge had not yet issued a decision whether she would grant that reconsideration as of 5:30 p.m. Monday.
The flurry of filings in the case Monday comes about a week before the July 28 deadline set by prosecutors for Youngblut’s attorneys to present mitigating evidence to a U.S. Department of Justice panel who will recommend whether capital crimes should be brought in the case.
Reiss, who is presiding in Youngblut’s case in U.S. District Court in Burlington, wrote in her two-page decision that she was denying the defense’s bid for an extension of the deadline to Jan. 30, 2026.
The judge wrote that “because both the process and the ultimate charging decision are the sole prerogative of the Executive Branch, the court lacks the authority to grant Defendant’s motion.”
That argument regarding the separation of powers between the judiciary and executive branches of government was made last week by federal prosecutors in a filing urging Reiss to reject the extension request from Youngblut’s attorneys.
However, in her ruling, the judge cautioned that the prosecution not granting the defense a deadline extension could risk their case down the road.
Reiss wrote she was concerned that if the government “needlessly expedites a Capital Case determination,” it could “inadvertently create an issue of ineffective assistance of counsel and give rise to concerns regarding the fair administration of justice in the context of a crucial decision.”
Youngblut, 21, of Washington state, has been charged with federal firearms and assault offenses in connection with the shootout on Interstate 91 in Coventry on the afternoon of Jan. 20 that killed U.S Border Patrol Agent David Maland.
Maland, according to court filings, conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle Youngblut had been driving.
Youngblut was also hurt in the shootout and received treatment at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Youngblut has been held in custody since being released from the hospital a few days after the shooting.
During the traffic stop, charging documents stated, Youngblut got out of the vehicle and opened fire, leading to an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement at the scene. In addition to Maland, Felix Bauckholt, a German national who was a passenger in the vehicle Youngblut was driving, also died in the shootout.
Federal authorities heading the probe in the case have refused to confirm who fired the fatal shot that killed Maland.
In a filing, Youngblut’s attorneys had contended that the prosecution’s July 28 deadline did not provide them with enough time.
Youngblut’s defense team wrote the “unprecedentedly tight timeline is even more untenable” because Youngblut’s defense team only recently secured an attorney who specializes in cases that could involve the death penalty.
“(I)rregularities aside, the government’s schedule promises to turn Ms. Youngblut’s submission into a near-pointless formality,” the lawyers added in the filings.
Youngblut’s attorneys also requested a hearing on the matter. However, Reiss ruled without holding a hearing.
“Defendant’s motion to extend the deadline by which defense counsel may present mitigating and other evidence to the Attorney General’s Capital Case Review Committee is DENIED,” the judge wrote in the final sentence of her decision.
Later Monday, Youngblut’s defense team submitted a 16-page motion asking Reiss to reconsider her ruling, arguing that they don’t see their request as violating the separation of powers principle among branches of government.
“Youngblut simply asks the Court to direct the government to briefly pause its decision-making process so prosecutors can meaningfully consider mitigating evidence before making the seek/no-seek decision,” the defense attorneys wrote.
“Even if the Court grants that relief,” the defense attorneys added, “the government will ultimately be entirely free to file death-eligible charges and to seek the death penalty against Youngblut.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi had signaled early in the case that federal death penalty charges were being weighed by prosecutors.
Bondi issued a directive shortly after taking office at the beginning of this year lifting a moratorium on federal executions that had been in place during the Biden administration, particularly in cases involving the death of a law enforcement official.
In that directive, Bondi also specifically cited the case involving the fatal shooting in Vermont of the border patrol agent.
“But that memorandum also provides that the DOJ policy of seeking death in cases ‘involving the murder of a law-enforcement officer’ shall not apply if ‘significant mitigating circumstances’” exist, Youngblut’s attorneys wrote in their motion for reconsideration.
“That proviso would be meaningless if the government did not provide Youngblut (and other potential capital defendants) with a genuine opportunity to demonstrate that their cases involve ‘significant mitigating circumstances,’” the defense added.
Youngblut and Bauckholt allegedly were linked to a group of people known as the “Zizians,” an offshoot of the so-called Rationalist movement in the San Francisco Bay Area. Group members have been tied to several other homicides across the country, including in California and Pennsylvania.
Steven Barth, an attorney representing Youngblut, declined to comment on Reiss’ ruling Monday. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Vermont, through a spokesperson, also declined to comment.
