By Annie Rudolph and Jojo Kofman
BURLINGTON, VT – During a status conference hearing last Friday in Chittenden County Superior Court, Judge Elizabeth Novotny questioned why the court would keep trailing the accused’s cases instead of dismissing them altogether.
The accused failed to appear for the hearing, but Deputy Public Defender Stacie Johnson confirmed he had been in contact with the accused the night prior.
Deputy District Attorney Susan Hardin stated she wouldn’t request a summons or arrest warrant for the accused because contact was made.
DPD Johnson asked the court to push these cases out for a follow-up hearing in 60 days, to which the judge interjected and asked why DPD Johnson wanted to postpone the cases.
Judge Novotny asked, “What would be the value of having cases trail along?” And the judge then suggested the option of dismissal of the accused’s cases, inquiring, “Out of curiosity, are we going to keep setting statuses for years?”
Despite DPD Johnson expressing similar confusion in regard to the issue, and the court not reaching a conclusive answer on the reasoning behind the case’s continuance, Judge Novotny did set another status hearing in 60 days.
The accused has been participating in treatment court and DPD Johnson revealed the accused has successfully completed Valley Vista, an addiction treatment program that supports people struggling with addiction.
The accused’s cases in question involve violations of his conditions of release, resisting arrest, simple assault, false pretenses or false tokens over $900, and a violation of an abuse prevention order.
Despite completing a condition of his release, the accused remains under legal supervision and his cases will stay pending until the parties reconvene in 60 days on how to proceed.
The judge did in fact note that a possible case dismissal could be complicated by issues of expungement but never expanded upon this issue before setting the new court date.
