State v. Hance

¶ 1. Defendant Henry J. Hance, Jr. appeals the bail imposed by the district court. The court required defendant to post $60,000 in cash without an option to have that amount guaranteed by a third-party surety. While a cash-only bail is arguably authorized by 13 V.S.A. § 7554(a)(1)(F), defendant claims that the statute conflicts with Chapter II, § 40 of the Vermont Constitution. That section provides that “[a]ll persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties.” We agree that, to the extent § 7554(a)(1)(F) permits imposition of cash-only bail, it violates our Constitution. Accordingly, we…