State v. Parker, 110918 VTSC, 2018-352
| Opinion Judge | MARILYN S. SKOGLUND, ASSOCIATE JUSTICE. |
| Party Name | State of Vermont v. Douglas Parker |
| Case Date | November 09, 2018 |
| Court | Vermont Supreme Court |
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
Superior Court, Rutland Unit, Criminal Division DOCKET NO. 1348-10-17 Rdcr
ENTRY ORDER
MARILYN S. SKOGLUND, ASSOCIATE JUSTICE.
In the above-entitled cause, the Clerk will enter:
Douglas Parker, defendant, appeals the trial court's denial of his motion to amend his conditions of release-specifically defendant asked the trial court to remove Condition #13, which prohibits defendant from possessing firearms, so that he can hunt in the upcoming deer season. We affirm.
On October 9, 2017, defendant was arrested following an altercation at his home with B.H. and A.H., the two complaining witnesses. It is not disputed that, at some point, defendant removed his shotgun from his bedroom and assembled it on the kitchen table. However, defendant's account of the remainder of the evening's activities is distinctly different from B.H.'s and A.H.'s.
In defendant's sworn written statement, he asserts that around 9:30 PM, he retrieved his shotgun from his bedroom and assembled it on the kitchen table because he was planning on going bird hunting in the morning. After it was assembled, B.H. allegedly confronted defendant about having a gun in the house while B.H.'s four-month-old son and six-year-old daughter were in the house. In response, defendant asserts that he removed the gun from the kitchen to his truck outside, and, that is when the police arrived and arrested him.
In B.H.'s and A.H.'s sworn statements, they assert that defendant allegedly spent the evening drinking, becoming intoxicated, and threatening to kill himself. After he assembled his shotgun on the kitchen table, defendant went out to his car but left the gun in the kitchen. The complaining witnesses assert that B.H. went out to the truck to ask defendant to remove the gun from the house, to which defendant responded aggressively. Defendant allegedly returned to the home, retrieved the gun, opened the barrel of the gun as to load a round, and threatened to kill B.H. Defendant allegedly claimed to have four rounds on the stock of the gun and three or four rounds in the truck, and then took his gun out to his truck. At that point in time, the complaining witnesses claim they feared for their lives and their family and called the police.
Defendant was arraigned on October 10, 2017 and charged with first-degree aggravated domestic assault with a deadly weapon pursuant to 13 V.S.A. § 1043(a)(2). Based on the sworn statements submitted by the arresting state trooper, defendant, B.H., and A.H., the trial court did not find that defendant was at risk of failing to appear at future court hearings or of fleeing the area to avoid...
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