State v. Madison

Today, we consider whether use of the term “review de novo” in the recently approved bail amendment to the Vermont Constitution (Proposal 7) and related legislation, 13 V.S.A. § 7556(d), requires a justice of this Court, when reviewing a district court’s decision denying bail, to conduct a new evidentiary hearing without considering the record created in the district court. We conclude that the bail amendment, which allows the district court to deny bail to a person charged with a violent felony if evidence of guilt is great and the accused poses a substantial threat of violence to another…