There really isn’t an appropriate photo for this case. State v. Jody Herring, 2019 VT 33 By: Timothy Fair   The facts of this highly publicized case remain extremely painful for a large cross-section of our community and may be difficult for some to read about.  On August 7, 2015, defendant Jody Herring went on a day-long rampage, fatally shooting three of her family members and a Department of Children and Families social worker over the…

I don’t know about you, but this kind of light alone makes me nervous State v. Tetreault, 2017 VT 119 By Andrew Delaney It was a dark and stormy night. Well, actually, it was around 10:00 in the morning. Mr. Tetreault got pulled over for doing 80 on the highway near our Southern border. The trooper who made the stop testified that the driver stopped abruptly and the reverse lights flashed on. Then the driver’s…

Penguins are just funny State v. Nagel, 2020 VT 31 By Elizabeth Kruska This is another traffic-stop-expansion case. We would stop having these cases and SCOV would stop reversing these cases if traffic stops would stop getting unlawfully expanded. Just sayin’. Here’s what happened. A deputy sheriff ran a registration check on a vehicle (why? Unclear, but not impermissible) and learned it belonged to Mrs. Nagel. He knew Mrs. Nagel was married to Mr. Nagel,…

Kid? We kid In re A.W., 2020 VT 34 By Elizabeth Kruska We’ve talked about CHINS (child in need of care and supervision) and TPR (termination of parental rights) cases before. This one is a little different than some of the others we’ve seen. Here’s how these cases go. Somehow a family comes onto the radar of DCF (Department for Children and Families). If DCF feels there’s a need to get the court involved, it…

Would this truck lead to an acquittal?  State v. Redmond, 2020 VT 36 By Andy Delaney We all know it’s a bad idea to throw things at vehicles, though I do have a funny story about my brother chucking a Burger King milkshake at a car where the driver and his passenger totally deserved it. That’s a story for another day, though. Mr. Redmond was accused of having thrown a prybar at a truck’s window.…

Stonewall. Get it?  Stonewall of Woodstock Corp. v. Stardust 11TS, LLC, 2018 VT 79 By Elizabeth Kruska There’s a particular piece of commercial property in Woodstock. Stonewall wanted to buy it from Oliver Block and started negotiating. A contract was created and Stonewall signed it, but Oliver Block did not. Then Oliver Block sold the property to a third party, Stardust. These names delight me and I feel like they could all be pretty good…

This is not the dam we’re talking about. TransCanada Hydro Northeast Inc. v. Town of Newbury, State of Vermont 2017 VT 117 By: Kelsey Bain This case is about how to properly value flow easements for tax purposes. Riveting, I know, but bear with me.  The taxpayer, TransCananda, appealed a trial court decision that valued its flow easements at $1,532,211.  Essentially, TransCanada believed that valuation was too high.  TransCanada’s fatal flaw however is that it relied almost entirely…