State v. Audette

Defendant appeals his conviction of kidnapping following a jury trial in Chittenden District Court. The principal is sue raised by defendant is whether the trial court erred by failing to include in its charge to the jury that the crime of kidnapping, 13 V.S.A. § 2401, includes an element of felonious intent. We reverse and remand.

Defendant was charged and convicted of kidnapping his wife, who was residing at a battered women’s shelter in Burlington, Vermont. At the close of the trial, in a written request to instruct, defendant asked the court to charge the jury that the crime of kidnapping…