State v. Whiteway, 196 Vt. 638

Defendant (Whiteway) was arraigned for second-degree murder in Dec 2012 and held without bail after a weight-of-the-evidence hearing under 13 V.S.A. § 7553.
In Jan 2014 she moved for pretrial home detention under 13 V.S.A. § 7554b; the trial court denied the motion primarily citing the nature of the offense.
This Court (three-justice panel) reversed in Whiteway I, finding the trial court repeatedly and improperly relied on the nature of the offense, failed to weigh § 7554b(b)(2) factors, and unduly second-guessed DOC administration of home detention; remanded for reconsideration guided by defendant-specific factors.
On remand the trial court evaluated § 7554b(b) factors: nature of the offense (second-degree murder, alleged jealous/violent killing), defendant’s limited criminal history but some risk of flight, and risk to a third party (another woman present at the scene and likely a witness).
The court found specific facts supporting a danger to that third party (prior physical assault at the scene, motive tied to romantic breakup, witness incentive), and concluded DOC home-detention supervision could not adequately protect that third party.
The trial court again denied home detention; the appellate court affirmed, holding the denial was not an abuse of discretion because findings were specific to defendant and addressed program limitations only as relevant to third-party safety and flight risk.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether trial court abused discretion denying pretrial home detention under § 7554b	State: Court properly may deny home detention where defendant poses unacceptable risk to a specific third party and limitations of home-detention supervision make protection inadequate	Whiteway: Court failed to base denial on factors specific to her; findings about danger to the other woman and program inadequacy lacked evidentiary support	Affirmed: No abuse of discretion; court made defendant-specific findings showing risk to a third party and considered program limits only in assessing adequacy of protection
Whether trial court improperly re‑weighed DOC’s home-detention procedures	State: Court may consider supervision limits when assessing safety and flight risk	Whiteway: Court impermissibly second-guessed DOC (e.g., speculative concerns about removing GPS)	Affirmed: Some speculative language was error, but overall the court relied on specific facts about defendant, not solely on criticism of DOC, so denial stands

State v. Whiteway, 196 Vt. 629, 96 A.3d 1004 (Vt. 2014) (appellate panel reversed initial denial for failing to apply § 7554b(b) factors to defendant-specific circumstances)
State v. Pellerin, 187 Vt. 482, 996 A.2d 204 (Vt. 2010) (review of bail decisions is for abuse of discretion)
State v. Blackmer, 160 Vt. 451, 631 A.2d 1134 (Vt. 1993) (when governed by § 7553, presumption favors incarceration over release)