State v. Travis C. Collins, Sr., 177 A.3d 528

Defendant Travis C. Collins, Sr. was charged with kidnapping (punishable up to life) and interference with emergency services. Bail initially set after-hours at $25,000 and later at arraignment $100,000.
Defendant could not post $100,000; after a defense bail-review hearing the court reduced bail to $25,000 and defendant posted ten percent and was released with conditions.
At the bail-review hearing the State sought to move orally to hold defendant without bail; the court declined to hear the oral motion and directed the State to file a written motion.
The State then filed a written motion and at a later hearing presented witnesses (victim, spouse, responding officer). The court found the State’s evidence of guilt on the kidnapping charge compelling and ordered defendant held without bail.
The trial court did not articulate consideration of the statutory factors in 13 V.S.A. § 7554 when ordering detention; the State conceded on appeal that the court erred in failing to apply those factors.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the State may move to hold a defendant without bail after a prior bail determination when no new evidence exists	State: a § 7553 hold-without-bail motion is procedurally distinct from a bail-review and may be filed later	Collins: court cannot revisit bail-setting to hold without bail absent changed circumstances or new evidence	Court did not decide the merits because defendant conceded State could have raised the motion at the bail-review hearing; issue left unresolved for this case
Whether the court must apply § 7554 factors before holding a defendant without bail under § 7553	State relied on strength of evidence to justify detention	Collins argued the court must consider statutory § 7554 factors (family ties, record, seriousness, etc.) and provide articulated reasons	Court held the trial court erred by failing to consider and articulate the § 7554 factors; reversed and remanded for a § 7554 analysis based on the existing evidence (or additional evidence if required)

State v. Blackmer, 160 Vt. 451, 631 A.2d 1134 (clarifies standard for weight-of-evidence determination)
State v. Duff, 151 Vt. 433, 563 A.2d 258 (defendant entitled to hearing when court determines bailability)
State v. Blow, 201 Vt. 633, 135 A.3d 672 (court may revisit bail as weight of evidence changes)
State v. Ford, 200 Vt. 650, 130 A.3d 862 (trial court may consider § 7554 factors when deciding pretrial release even if § 7553 applies)
State v. Falzo, 185 Vt. 616, 969 A.2d 694 (trial judge retains discretion to allow bail despite § 7553)
State v. Avgoustov, 180 Vt. 595, 907 A.2d 1185 (trial court discretion is not arbitrary)
State v. Hardy, 184 Vt. 618, 965 A.2d 478 (standard of review for bail decisions)
State v. Hance, 180 Vt. 357, 910 A.2d 874 (de novo review of legal questions)