State v. Pellerin

Johnson, J.,

¶ 15. dissenting. Today, the Court holds that a “notice” of a prosecutor’s intent to request a sentence enhancement under 13 V.S.A. § 11, introducing a mere possibility that a defendant will face a life sentence following a conviction, is enough to reverse our normal presumption that an accused should remain at liberty pending trial. Such a holding undermines the presumption of innocence for those who stand accused of crimes and greatly expands the category of cases in which the presumption of release is reversed, a category we have explicitly noted should be narrow. For this…