Justia Vermont Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Petitioner Allen Rheaume is currently serving a life sentence as a habitual offender. He has forty-eight convictions, five of which either involve sex crimes or have a sexual element. He also has had sixty-three disciplinary report convictions while incarcerated. He challenged his classification by the Department of Corrections (DOC) as a "high risk" sex offender and that designation's concomitant programming requirements. The trial court granted respondent's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim and lack of subject matter jurisdiction, finding that review under the state rules of civil procedure was unavailable for classification and programming decisions made by the DOC. The question of whether an inmate designated as "high risk" can appeal his programming requirements through Vermont Rule of civil Procedure 75 is one of first impression for the Supreme Court. Upon review, the Court found that no statute provides for review of DOC programming decisions, "so the question becomes whether these fall within the class of decisions appealable at common law under one of the extraordinary writs." The Court concluded that while an inmate may have review of his designation under Rule 75, the particular programming requirements promulgated after that designation becomes final are a matter of DOC discretion and as such are non reviewable under Rule 75. Therefore, the Court affirmed the trial court's determination that the programming requirements are not reviewable under Rule 75. View "Rheaume v. Pallito" on Justia Law

Defendant Graham Simmons appealed a district court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence of a computer and other stolen items discovered in the execution of a search warrant at his residence. Probable cause supporting the warrant was obtained through subpoenas requiring production of internet addresses and data from internet service providers. Defendant challenged the subpoena of internet records as a warrantless search in violation of the state constitution. Furthermore, Defendant contended that information in the warrant was supplied by an unknown tipster whose reliability was not reasonably established. Upon review of the evidence and the trial record, the Supreme Court concluded that Defendant failed to properly preserve his first contention and held that the trial court's refusal to suppress the evidence was not plain error. Furthermore, the Court concluded that the informant's input and credibility was ultimately irrelevant to issuing the warrant. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the trial court's judgment. View "Vermont v. Simmons" on Justia Law

Defendant Edward Charbonneau unsuccessfully challenged his conviction on simple assault. On appeal to the Supreme Court, Defendant argued that the trial court erred by denying him a new trial over evidence that was not available at the time of trial. The Supreme Court emphasized that the decision to grant a motion for a new trial was within the discretion of the trial court, and absent plain error in the record, the Supreme Court would not disturb the decision. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's decision.

Defendant Gregory Sommer unsuccessfully appealed the sentence he received by trial court. On appeal to the Supreme Court, Defendant argued that he was entitled to credit for time he spent in jail while waiting for the trial court to sentence him. The Supreme Court found that Defendant was premature in bringing his request to the court before the Department of Corrections had issued an official sentencing calculation. Furthermore, the Court found that Defendant's own calculation of the time credit was wrong. Accordingly, the Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's decision to dismiss Defendant's petition.

Husband Lee Herring appealed the family courtâs denial of his motion to terminate spousal maintenance to his ex-wife Kimberly Herring. Eight months after the order of divorce maintenance was entered, Mr. Herring was found guilty of sexual assault. The stateâs first prosecution of Mr. Herring ended in a hung jury, which occurred before the divorce was granted. After the second trial, he was sentenced. Mr. Herring paid maintenance pursuant to the divorce order for the first six months following the divorce, but stopped making payments once he was incarcerated. Mr. Herring petitioned the family court to modify the maintenance award since he would have no means of paying it from jail. The family court reasoned that the incarceration was not an unanticipated change in his situation and denied his motion to modify the maintenance award. The Supreme Court could not conclude that the pendency of the criminal proceedings made his resulting loss of income âanticipatedâ in terms of his ability to pay the maintenance award. The Court reversed the family courtâs decision to deny Mr. Herring a modification to the maintenance award, and remanded the case for further proceedings.

Defendant Michael Myers appealed a jury verdict that found him guilty of seven charges all resulting from a drunken altercation in which he drove his truck around the complaining witnessâ lawn, into the witnessâ home, and then fled the scene to be arrested by police a short time later. Defendant made a series of claims on appeal, alleging errors in the trial process and challenging the sufficiency of the evidence presented at trial that supported his conviction. The Supreme Court analyzed the evidence presented at trial, and found it sufficient to support the juryâs verdict convicting him of all charges brought against him.