Burlington, Vermont personal injury lawyers represented Plaintiffs, who sued Defendant on medical malpractice theories claiming to have suffered more than $75,000 in damages and/or injuries as a direct result of substandard medical care provided by Dr. John Boyd Coates, M.D.

The Plaintiffs claimed that DNA evidence showed that Dr. Coates used his own sperm to impregnate Cheryl Rousseau.More...    $5250000 (04-07-2022 - VT)

Burlington, VT - Mexican Man Sentenced for Alien Smuggling

Salmen Hernandez-Ayala, 48, a citizen of Mexico, was sentenced on September 10, 2018 in United States District Court in Burlington for transporting three illegal aliens within the United States. United States District Judge Christina Reiss sentenced Hernandez-Ayala to time served. Hernandez-Ayala has been in custody since his ar... More...    $0 (09-10-2018 - VT)

Rutland, VT - Mexican Man Sentenced for Unlawfully Reentering the United States

The United States Attorney for the District of Vermont and the Swanton Sector Office of the United States Border Patrol announce that Zein Diaz-Ventura, 27, a citizen of Mexico, was convicted and sentenced on July 17, 2018 in United States District Court in Rutland for reentering the United States after having... More...    $0 (07-22-2018 - VT)

Defendant was convicted of his first DUI in 2006. In March 2012, defendant was
convicted of DUI-2 following entry of a guilty plea. The 2012 plea colloquy for the DUI-2
included the following exchange:

[THE COURT:] What the State says you did is that, on November 4th of 2011, at Lyndon, [you] operated a motor vehicle, specifically a Jeep Wrangler, on a public highway, tha... More...    $0 (06-28-2018 - VT)

Defendant Jack Sawyer appeals the trial court’s decision holding him without bail. Defendant is charged with four separate counts, each predicated on his alleged attempt to commit a crime, and three of which are punishable by life imprisonment. The sole question before this Court is whether the evidence of guilt is great that defendant attempted to commit any of the four charged crimes given the... More...    $0 (04-28-2018 - VT)

The facts as found by the trial court in defendant’s civil suspension hearing may be
summarized as follows. On October 5, 2015, a St. Albans police officer responded to a report of
a motor vehicle crash at a parking lot in St. Albans. Upon arrival at the scene, the officer observed
a pickup truck in a ditch near a telephone pole and tire marks in the gravel that suggested the
... More...    $0 (11-03-2017 - VT)

Burlington, VT - Portuguese National Sentenced For Reentering United States

Paulo Abelha, 49, a citizen of Portugal, pleaded guilty to an indictment which charges him with reentering the United States after having been twice deported. Chief U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss sentenced Abelha to time served. Abelha has been held without bail since his arrest last August. Custody of Abelh... More...    $0 (12-02-2016 - VT)

The underlying facts are not disputed. On August 5, 2013, defendant was arraigned
on a charge of possessing stolen property. Defendant was ordered to provide the court with a
surety bond or cash in the amount of $5000. Defendant’s conditions of release also required him
to come to court for scheduled hearings and to provide his attorney and the court with his updated
address... More...    $0 (12-17-2016 - VT)

On January 22, 2014 at about 6:30 p.m., the Vermont State Police received a tip
from an identified caller about the erratic operation of a motor vehicle in the Town of Bethel.
The caller provided the vehicle’s license plate number, which the State Police used to identify
the registered owner and her address. The arresting trooper parked on South Main Street in front
of the li... More...    $0 (06-07-2016 - vT)

Defendant was convicted of simple assault in a jury trial in
December 2014 and placed on probation. He requests that this Court reverse his conviction and
remand for a new trial because the trial court improperly defined reasonable doubt for the jury,
thus lowering the standard of proof. In the alternative, he raises three arguments regarding his
probation conditions: (1) tha... More...    $0 (05-29-2016 - VT)

Defendant’s claims of error require a detailed review of the evidence presented at
trial. The incident giving rise to these charges transpired on May 17, 2014, on defendant’s
property in Bennington, Vermont. The property is located across the street from the police
station, and it is bisected by two public roads. Defendant lives on the property with his brother,
Peter Buckle... More...    $0 (05-29-2016 - VT)

On September 18, 2003, defendant was convicted of sexual assault of a minor in
violation of 13 V.S.A. § 3252(a). He received a sentence of nineteen to twenty years, all
suspended except eleven years. The sentencing court indicated that the split sentence was
intended to deliver a “severe sanction” while giving defendant an option to make good on what
he claimed was remorse an... More...    $0 (04-22-2016 - VT)

Defendant is a citizen of the Dominican Republic who lived and worked legally in
Massachusetts as a permanent resident of the United States. In June 2013, he pleaded guilty to
one charge of felony domestic assault stemming from a May 2013 incident in which he
attempted to strangle his girlfriend at her home in Rutland, Vermont. Defendant signed a written
plea agreement prior ... More...    $0 (03-02-2016 - VT)

In 2005 and 2008, defendant was convicted of two DUIs that occurred while he
was eighteen and twenty-one years old, respectively. In February 2014, defendant pleaded guilty
to a DUI-3, which occurred when he was twenty-seven years old. Because he had previously
been convicted of two DUIs, defendant was subject to enhanced penalties. See 23 V.S.A.
§ 1210(d) (“A person convic... More...    $0 (03-02-2016 - VT)

Defendant is a citizen of the Dominican Republic who lived and worked legally in
Massachusetts as a permanent resident of the United States. In June 2013, he pleaded guilty to
one charge of felony domestic assault stemming from a May 2013 incident in which he
attempted to strangle his girlfriend at her home in Rutland, Vermont. Defendant signed a written
plea agreement prior ... More...    $0 (02-28-2016 - VT)

Defendant challenges his sentence and a special condition of
probation imposed following a guilty plea for sexual assault of a minor. On appeal, defendant
argues that probation condition 43, which gives his probation officer unbridled authority over
where defendant lives and works, is overbroad, as well as that the trial court erred as a matter of
law in finding defendant woul... More...    $0 (02-13-2016 - VT)

During the summer of 2013, defendant Gotavaskas was charged with burglary of
an occupied dwelling in one docket and providing false information and operation without the
owner’s consent in a second docket. At his arraignment on September 10, 2013, Gotavaskas
raised the issue of his competency and the trial court ordered a competency evaluation pursuant
to 13 V.S.A. § 4814. <... More...    $0 (02-08-2016 - VT)

Defendant and the State entered a plea agreement, in exchange for which the
charge was amended and other charges against defendant were dismissed. The plea agreement
contemplated a contested sentencing hearing allowing the State to argue for a sentence of up to
forty years to life to serve and defendant to argue for a sentence of ten years to life, split to serve
five years. ... More...    $0 (02-08-2016 - VT)

The facts are not in dispute.  On July 25 or 26, 2012, the Springfield,
Vermont Police Department received a written complaint that on July 23, John
Johnston had been assaulted by a man known to him only as “D.J.”  A
Springfield police officer interviewed Johnston on July 26, and based on that
interview, and the officer’s prior experience, he concluded that “D.J.” was in fact
A... More...    $0 (01-31-2016 - VT)

This motion calls upon us to consider whether we should adopt the “prison mailbox rule” and hold that a notice of appeal is deemed filed for purposes of Vermont Rule of Appellate Procedure 4 when an unrepresented incarcerated inmate delivers it to
the prison authorities for forwarding to the court clerk. Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266, 276
(1988). We previously dismissed petitioner’s ap... More...    $0 (01-09-2016 - VT)

Defendant appeals the trial court’s December 29, 2014 decision to deny bail and its October 14, 2015 decision to deny home detention. We affirm. On July 25, 2014, the State charged defendant with second degree murder of A.H. in violation of 13 V.S.A. § 2301. Defendant was arraigned on that date and ordered held without bail pursuant to 13 V.S.A. § 7553. The evidence supporting probable cause i... More...    $0 (01-06-2016 - VT)

Defendant William O. Stanley, Sr., appeals his conviction of sexual assault. On appeal, defendant argues that the trial court (1) erroneously permitted the trial and sentencing to proceed in his absence; (2) erroneously permitted the State to introduce an uncharged prior bad act as evidence; and (3) imposed the habitual-offender enhancement in a
way that may have violated the Double Jeopardy... More...    $0 (01-01-2016 - VT)

Defendant was charged with numerous crimes in March 2013, including: leaving
the scene of an accident; violating conditions of release; operating with a suspended license;
driving under the influence (DUI), third offense; and refusing to submit to an evidentiary test.
Defendant pled nolo contendere to the first three charges.
¶ 3. In July 2013, defendant moved to dismiss the... More...    $0 (12-31-2015 - VT)

Defendant appeals the decision of the Orange Superior Court, Criminal Division denying his motion to suppress his refusal to submit to an evidentiary breath test on the ground that he was denied his right to counsel under 23 V.S.A. § 1202. We affirm.

¶ 2. The following facts are undisputed. On November 12, 2013, shortly before
midnight, defendant was pulled over for speeding. The... More...    $0 (12-31-2015 - VT)

The Vermont Human Rights Commission and three female employees of the Vermont Department of Corrections (DOC) filed suit against the State—the DOC and the Vermont Department of Human Resources (DHR)—claiming that the DOC violated the Vermont Fair Employment Practices Act (VFEPA), 21 V.S.A. §§ 495-496a, by paying a male employee in the same position as the female plaintiffs as much as $10,000 more ... More...    $0 (12-29-2015 - VT)

Defendant William O. Stanley, Sr., appeals his conviction of sexual assault. On appeal, defendant argues that the trial court (1) erroneously permitted the trial and sentencing to proceed in his absence; (2) erroneously permitted the State to introduce an uncharged prior bad act as evidence; and (3) imposed the habitual-offender enhancement in a
way that may have violated the Double Jeopar... More...    $0 (12-27-2015 - VT)

The State appeals the Windham Superior Court, Criminal Division’s
decisions to seal certain portions of competency reports prepared in connection with court
ordered competency evaluations of Anthony Gotavaskas and Grant S. Bercik, defendants in two
separate criminal cases. For the reasons stated herein, we reverse and remand.
The facts of the respective underlying cases are as... More...    $0 (12-27-2015 - VT)

Plaintiff Scott Nichols is an inmate in the custody and control of the Vermont Department of Corrections (the “Department”). At the time of the events in dispute here, he was incarcerated at Northern State Correctional Facility (“NSCF”). Since filing this complaint, Plaintiff has been released from prison and placed on conditional re-entry furlough in the community. This action was filed on Mar... More...    $0 (12-03-2015 - VT)

This case encompasses two main related sets of disputes. One dispute arises from a landowner’s replacement of his boathouse and construction of ancillary retaining walls that encroach onto his neighbors’ property. This dispute includes claims for declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as damages on account of the landowner’s alleged
trespass. The neighbors challenge the trial court’s c... More...    $0 (10-25-2015 - VT)

Plaintiffs Michael Bandler and MB&Co, Ltd. (“corporation”)
bring an interlocutory appeal from the trial court’s ruling that Bandler, a nonattorney, may not
represent corporation in this case. He argues that the trial court violated his due-process rights
by ruling on the basis of the parties’ respective written submissions on the issue of representation
without giving him pri... More...    $0 (10-24-2015 - VT)

Defendant Evan P. Ford argues the Bennington Superior Court abused its discretion when the court held him without bail. Pursuant to 13 V.S.A. § 7553, the trial court’s order denied defendant bail on four charges that each carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. In addition, the court found that neither home detention under 13 V.S.A. § 7554b nor the sheriff’s monitoring program under 13 V.... More...    $0 (10-24-2015 - VT)

In the early 1980s, landlords William and Susan O’Brien purchased the subject
property, which is located in the Old North End of Burlington and includes a two-story house
and brick building (referred to as the creamery) with a common wall to the rear of the house.
The creamery has no fixtures and has never been inhabited. After landlords purchased the
property in 1982, the ho... More...    $0 (10-24-2015 - VT)

In the early 1980s, landlords William and Susan O’Brien purchased the subject
property, which is located in the Old North End of Burlington and includes a two-story house
and brick building (referred to as the creamery) with a common wall to the rear of the house.
The creamery has no fixtures and has never been inhabited. After landlords purchased the
property in 1982, the h... More...    $0 (10-23-2015 - VT)

Mother appeals the parent-child contact and property division orders in a final divorce decree that assign her sole parental rights and responsibilities with regard to the parties’ children. On appeal, mother argues that the trial court was bound to consider findings of fact made by the presiding magistrate at a temporary hearing and that the court’s findings do not support its conclusions. We ... More...    $0 (08-02-2015 - VT)

¶ 1. Mother appeals the parent-child contact and property division orders in a final divorce decree that assign her sole parental rights and responsibilities with regard to the parties’ children. On appeal, mother argues that the trial court was bound to consider findings of fact made by the presiding magistrate at a temporary hearing and that the court’s findings do not support its... More...    $0 (06-26-2015 - VT)