Vermont vs Hunt (1982)

Last updated

The case Vermont vs Hunt (1982) had two major outcomes. One was a ruling by the Vermont Supreme Court that side judges had the right to vote on plea agreements. The second was a lengthy review of judges' conduct used to reach this conclusion. This resulted in the state Judicial Conduct Board bringing 24 formal charges against three Supreme Court judges.

The Vermont Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Vermont. Unlike most other states, the Vermont Supreme Court hears appeals directly from the trial courts, as Vermont has no intermediate appeals court.

Side judge, or assistant judge, is a judicial position apparently unique to the state of Vermont. There are two side judges in each of Vermont's 14 counties.

Contents

Background

The state accused Gordon Hunt of murdering a neighbor in 1982. His attorney attempted to plea bargain for a minimum sentence of ten years. The judge who heard the case, James L. Morse, accepted the plea. Both side judges, including Jane Wheel, disagreed. They brought their objections to the Vermont Supreme Court and, in 1984, obtained a ruling in favor of the side judges' decision.

James L. Morse was an Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 1988 to 2003.

Judicial conduct

Wheel was accused of exerting undue influence over three state Supreme Court justices, William C. Hill, Thomas L. Hayes, and Ernest W. Gibson III, and there were intimations of an affair between Wheel and Hill, which they denied. [1] Among the other allegations against Wheel, she was accused of threatening the Vermont Attorney General, John J. Easton Jr., by suggesting she would undermine his 1984 candidacy for governor if he pursued the investigation. [2] At one point in the investigation, Assistant Attorney General Brian L. Burgess punctured a hole in an office wall in order to eavesdrop on a conversation between Hill and Jeffrey Amestoy, who had succeeded Easton as Attorney General, in order to determine whether Hill was attempting to unduly influence Amestoy. [2] During the investigation and subsequent court proceedings, all five Vermont Supreme Court justices recused themselves, and their positions were filled by temporary judges. [3]

William C. Hill was a Vermont attorney and judge. His most notable service came as an Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 1976 to 1987.

Thomas L. Hayes American judge

Thomas L. Hayes was the 70th Lieutenant Governor of Vermont and a Vermont Supreme Court Justice. He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1985 by then-Governor Madeleine M. Kunin.

Ernest W. Gibson III is a retired attorney and judge who served as a Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court.

Resolution

In 1986 and 1987, Hill and two other justices, Hill, Hayes, and Gibson were accused of tailoring decisions to suit Wheel, and helping her cover up payroll padding. Wheel was accused of wielding undue influence over the three justices. [4] Hayes died before the charges could be resolved, and charges against Gibson were dropped. [4] Wheel was convicted on charges arising from the case. [5] Hill was found to have violated rules regarding judicial conduct, and opted to retire at the end of his second six-year term, rather than applying to remain on the court until age 70, Vermont's mandatory retirement age for judges. [6] His former colleagues banned him from serving as a judge again. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

An Alford plea, in United States law, is a guilty plea in criminal court, whereby a defendant in a criminal case does not admit to the criminal act and asserts innocence. In entering an Alford plea, the defendant admits that the evidence presented by the prosecution would be likely to persuade a judge or jury to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Prosecutor supreme representative of the prosecution (of the state)

A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial against an individual accused of breaking the law. Typically, the prosecutor represents the government in the case brought against the accused person.

New Hampshire Supreme Court

The New Hampshire Supreme Court is the supreme court of the U. S. state of New Hampshire and sole appellate court of the state. The Supreme Court is seated in the state capital, Concord. The Court is composed of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices appointed by the Governor and Executive Council to serve during "good behavior" until retirement or the age of seventy. The senior member of the Court is able to specially assign lower-court judges, as well as retired justices, to fill vacancies on the Court.

A state's attorney or state attorney is a lawyer representing the interests of the state in a legal proceeding, typically as a prosecutor. It is an official title in the United States, sometimes appointed but most commonly an elected official serving as the chief law enforcement officer of his or her county, circuit, or district. The offices of district attorney, commonwealth's attorney, county attorney, county prosecutor, or prosecuting attorney are more frequently the case in the United States although South Carolina uses the term solicitor. The state of Florida and other countries also use or used the term state's attorney, like the Boer republics of the Orange Free State (1854–1902) and the South African Republic (1852–1902) in South Africa. In these cases the position corresponded to that of the attorney general in the British judicial system. It is used within the Attorney-General's Department of Sri Lanka.

Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix Jr. served as the Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from 1984 to 1996. Nix was the first African-American Chief Justice of any state's highest court, and the first African American to be elected to statewide office in Pennsylvania. He served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania for 24 years, 12 of which were as chief justice, and was a prominent figure in Pennsylvania law and public service for more than three decades.

Sarath Nanda Silva PC served as the 41st Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.

Judiciary of Israel

The judicial system of Israel consists of secular courts and religious courts. The law courts constitute a separate and independent unit of Israel's Ministry of Justice. The system is headed by the President of the Supreme Court and the Minister of Justice.

Vincent Illuzzi American politician

Vincent Illuzzi is an American lawyer and politician from Derby, Vermont who formerly served as a Republican member of the Vermont State Senate representing the Essex-Orleans senate district.

The Judiciary of Vermont is the state court system of Vermont, charged with Vermont law.

Judiciary of New York (state)

The Judiciary of New York is the judicial branch of the Government of New York, comprising all the courts of the State of New York

Judicial system of Bhutan

The judicial system of Bhutan is the purview of the Royal Court of Justice, the judicial branch of the government of Bhutan under the Constitution of 2008. The judicial system comprises the Judicial Commission, the courts, the police, the penal code, and regulations on jabmi (attorneys).

Judicial misconduct occurs when a judge acts in ways that are considered unethical or otherwise violate the judge's obligations of impartial conduct.

Hoyt Henry Wheeler American judge

Hoyt Henry Wheeler was an Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court and later a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont.

Rolf Larsen, a Democrat originally from Allegheny County, was first elected to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1978.

Plea bargaining in the United States is very common; the vast majority of criminal cases in the United States are settled by plea bargain rather than by a jury trial. They have also been increasing in frequency—they rose from 84% of federal cases in 1984 to 94% by 2001. Plea bargains are subject to the approval of the court, and different States and jurisdictions have different rules. Game theory has been used to analyze the plea bargaining decision.

Jeffrey Amestoy is a former Vermont Attorney General and Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court.

References

  1. ↑ "State Board Investigating Judge Wheel", p. 1.
  2. 1 2 3 Lefebvre, Paul (August 6, 2018). "A look at a jaw-dropping judicial scandal". The Chronicle. Barton, Vermont. pp. 1A.
  3. ↑ "'Breach of Trust' - When the Vermont Supreme Court was on trial". burlingtonfreepress.com. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  4. 1 2 "High Court Drops Charges Against Gibson", p. 1B.
  5. ↑ "Ex-Judge Wheel Gets Jail Term", p. 1.
  6. ↑ "Former Vermont Supreme Court Justice Found in Violation of Conduct Rules".

External references

International Standard Book Number Unique numeric book identifier

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier which is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.