State v. Baker

Defendant appeals from a jury conviction of operating a motor vehicle while his license was suspended (DLS), in violation of 23 V.S.A. § 674(a). He alleges two errors: (1) the trial court placed the burden of proving the necessity defense upon him rather than requiring the State to disprove the existence of the defense; and (2) the court refused to consider community service as an alternative to imprisonment. We reject both claims and affirm.

On August 27,1988, an Essex Junction police officer stopped a car driven by defendant after observing that the car had a large crack in the windshield…