Summary
The Vermont Supreme Court affirmed the denial of Joshua Boyer’s motion for release into a pretrial home detention program under 13 V.S.A. § 7554b. The court held that the trial court properly considered the statutory factors specific to Boyer, including the seriousness of the charges, his history of violent convictions and supervision violations, and risks to third parties and public safety.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the trial court abused its discretion by denying defendant's motion for release into the home detention program.
- Whether the trial court impermissibly based its denial on generalized concerns about the Department of Corrections' administration of the home detention monitoring program rather than on factors specific to defendant under 13 V.S.A. § 7554b(b).
Holdings
- The trial court did not impermissibly base its decision on the administration of the home detention program; it considered information about the program but grounded its denial in the statutory factors specific to defendant and the proposed placement.
- The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant's motion for home detention.
Key quotations
“Although the court must consider the risk to public safety in placing a defendant on home detention, we do not view this consideration to include second-guessing how the commissioner administers the home detention program.” (¶ 10)
“Because defendant has failed to demonstrate that the trial court abused its discretion in denying defendant’s motion for home detention, we affirm.” (¶ 12)
Factual background
Joshua Boyer was arrested on allegations that he repeatedly sexually assaulted his fourteen-year-old daughter and was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child, aggravated assault, and aggravated sexual assault of a child with serious injury. The trial court held him without bail after arraignment. Boyer sought release to his mother-in-law's residence under Vermont's home detention program, but the court found significant concerns based on the seriousness of the charges, Boyer's prior violent convictions and supervision violations, and risks to third parties and public safety.
Procedural history
After defendant was arrested and initially released on bail, the trial court held him without bail under 13 V.S.A. § 7553(a). Defendant twice presented evidence supporting release to his mother-in-law's residence under the home detention program. The trial court denied the motion after analyzing the statutory factors, and the Vermont Supreme Court affirmed.