By Charlie Simmons
BURLINGTON, VT – During proceedings in Chittenden County Superior Court last week, Deputy District Attorney Lucas M. Collins moved to hold the accused, who is 18, in Northwest State Correctional Facility without bail for the duration of the upcoming trial.
The accused is facing a charge of attempted first degree murder. According to a press release issued by the Burlington Police Department, the accused repeatedly struck a victim with his car in the early hours of the morning of Jan. 11.
Deputy Public Defender Sandra Lee argued the accused should be released into the custody of his parents during this time. She cited the accused’s age, as well as Vermont’s complete lack of facilities designed specifically to hold minors and young adults.
Proceedings in court were primarily focused on where the accused should be held for pretrial detention. DDA Collins called Department of Corrections (DOC) Officer Nalani Harrington to provide a description of the options available.
Officer Harrington informed the court “emerging adults” (individuals 18-19 years of age) are usually held at state correctional facilities that hold adults, and this would be the best option for the accused. The officer added the DOC has procedures in place to ensure the safety of such individuals, such as removing them from “sight and sound” of the general prison population.
According to Harrington, this procedure is designed to remove vulnerable individuals from the general prison population. It includes limited opportunities for recreation and religious activities.
Officer Harrington acknowledged placing the accused in such an environment would largely be motivated by the fact that Vermont currently has no functioning institutions designed to hold juveniles or emerging adults.
DPD Lee drove home this point by prompting Officer Harrington to reiterate the fact the state lacks facilities for juveniles and emerging adults. DPD Lee also asked where individuals without “sight or sound” are held, to which Harrinton responded that she wasn’t aware of any such inmates currently in DOC custody.
A police investigation alleged the accused stalked the victim through downtown Burlington with his car, driving onto sidewalks and accelerating before finally striking the victim at the intersection of Church Street and Main Street, “sending the victim into the air.”
The car drove away but returned shortly after, the police claim, clipping the stunned victim at high speed as they tried to recover their scattered belongings from the street. The victim fled to the sidewalk, and the vehicle “made another, unsuccessful attempt to strike the victim on the sidewalk before fleeing.”
The next day, police identified the vehicle and arrested the accused. The arresting detective, Corporal Eric Kratochivil, recommended a charge of first-degree attempted murder “owing to the manner in which the suspect allegedly stalked the victim across multiple locations and a span of time, and willfully and deliberately struck the victim with his vehicle more than once.”
In his closing Statement, DDA Collins claimed it was in the “interest of justice” to hold the accused within an adult facility with “sight and sound,” because solitary confinement would be worse for the accused than what other inmates might potentially do.
DPD Lee countered this proposal by asking Judge Michael Kupersmith to release the accused into the custody of his parents, who would be able to keep constant watch over him. Furthermore, Lee argued incarcerating the accused would remove him from his family and support system.
However, Judge Kupersmith was unwilling to grant such a defense request, citing the seriousness of the charges against the accused, as well as the risk he might pose to the public.
According to the VTDigger, this situation is the result of a problem that has been unresolved in the State of Vermont since the state’s lone juvenile detention center closed in October of 2020, with at least four other minors having been detained in adult prison facilities since then.
A study by the Vera Institute of Justice, a New York based national research and policy group, shows that children face the highest rates of sexual abuse within prison, as well as the highest rates of suicide from solitary confinement. They also have high rates of reoffending in the years following their release.
Judge Kupersmith requested more evidence to be provided concerning the accused’s home situation, and adjourned the case for the day, effectively leaving the accused in limbo.
