By Adam Silverman
Free Press Staff Writer

June 28, 2006
The murder case against Kenneth Bailey resumed Tuesday in Vermont District Court in Burlington, months sooner than expected, after the state Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal of a legal point.

Bailey, 64, formerly of Burlington, is accused of shooting a Winooski man in 1971 during a robbery, but he argued that he shouldn't face a murder charge because the victim died more than a year after being shot, a tenet of common law known as the year-and-a-day rule.

A District Court judge ruled against Bailey in January. In April he won permission to appeal. But the Supreme Court's five justices turned aside the appeal by saying only that it was "improvidently granted."

Tuesday, Judge Michael Kupersmith and attorneys pondered the meaning of the high court's decision.

"So the Supreme Court made short shrift of that appeal," the judge said. "There's no rhyme or reason to what they decide to hear and not to hear."

"I didn't know what 'improvidently granted' meant, so I asked them," defense lawyer Kathleen Moore replied. "They didn't want to hear it now."

Bailey was arrested in August and pleaded not guilty to a count of first-degree murder after police received a tip about the long-dormant case of Richard Langlais, who was 49 when he was shot in January 1971 at his home. Langlais succumbed to his injuries in September 1973.

Bailey, who is jailed at the Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport and faces up to life in prison on the murder charge, is serving the second year of a three-year minimum prison sentence for sexual assault.

Attorneys told Kuper- smith on Tuesday they need more time to prepare for a trial. Moore said she still needs to review documents, videos and photographs -- "a boatload of stuff," she said. Chittenden County State's Attorney Bob Simpson said some investigative materials have been lost because of the case's age.

Kupersmith asked for another update July 24.

The Supreme Court still could decide the validity of the year-and-a-day rule if Bailey is tried, convicted and appeals again.
Contact Adam Silverman at 660-1854 or asilverm@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com