|
By Adam Silverman
Free Press Staff Writer
June 9, 2006
The state Supreme Court has turned aside an appeal by a man accused of a 1970s
slaying in Winooski.
All five justices decided not to hear arguments from Kenneth Bailey on whether
he should be immune from murder charges because his victim died more than a year
after being shot. The court offered no explanation for its decision, which was
announced in a one-sentence order.
Bailey, 64, formerly of Burlington, was arrested last year and pleaded not
guilty to a charge of first-degree murder. Prosecutors accuse Bailey of shooting
Richard Langlais, 49, during a home-invasion robbery in 1971. But because
Langlais lived until September 1973 before succumbing to his injuries, Bailey
argues, the murder charge is inappropriate.
The defense contends that common law -- legal precedent rather than specific
legislative acts -- says a person must die within 366 days of suffering a wound
for the assailant to be liable. In January, a District Court judge in Burlington
ruled against Bailey, writing that Vermont has never adopted the so-called
year-and-a-day rule.
A dispute over whether to appeal the judge's ruling immediately led Bailey to
seek and win permission to replace his court-appointed attorney in March. His
lawyer, Kathleen Moore of Rutland, and Chittenden County State's Attorney Bob
Simpson then agreed to file a joint appeal with the Supreme Court so the
justices could settle the year-and-a-day rule. Another district judge approved
the appeal.
The Supreme Court's order says permission to appeal was "improvidently
granted."
"Only they know what it means," Moore said Thursday. "It is a
surprise, but the court is going to do what it wants to do."
The ruling does not prevent Bailey from filing another appeal if he is convicted
at trial.
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.
Police said they solved the Langlais case after receiving a tip.
Contact Adam Silverman at 660-1854 or asilverm@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com
|
