By Andy DelaneyIt’s been a quiet couple of weeks at SCOV, which works out because I’ve had the ‘vid since last Wednesday. One opinion on Friday, October 4, 2024. In general, evidence of prior bad acts is not admissible in evidence to “prove the character of a person in order to show that the person acted
By Andy DelaneyA quiet week in Montpelier (in terms of published opinions). One entry order on Tuesday the 17th; no opinions Friday. Our lone entry order for the week is on a hold-without-bail order. The bottom line is this: don’t stipulate that the evidence of guilt is great on any counts if you want to
By Andy DelaneyOne lonely opinion issued this Friday the 13th.It’s about juvenile law, and specifically termination of parental rights (TPR). Mom appeals from such a TPR order. She argues that the trial court screwed up in: (1) excluding certain evidence; (2) denying a motion to reopen the evidence; and (3) concluding that DCF did
By Andy DelaneyWell, I take last week off, thinking SCOV won’t issue anything on the 30th: it’s a holiday weekend. So, yeah. Guess, I’d better not start any psychic hotlines. Five opinions this immediate past week and two the week before that, which means seven super-short summaries. You could call this the “Delaney-running-with-scissors” version of
Not much funny hereBy Andy Delaney Only one decision this week. It issued on the 14th and is an entry order on a hold-without-bail order, or as we sometimes call it here, a HWOB order. Defendant was busting into his ex’s and her boyfriend’s place, when they called the police (because they saw defendant on their
By Andy DelaneyTwo opinions this week. First up, we take a brief foray into clinical-mental-health licensing and how the Board of Allied Mental Health Practitioners deals with coursework that doesn’t meet its requirements at first blush. Ms. McNamer applied for a counseling license. Because she did not have a degree from an accredited school, she needed
This has to be one of my favorite I-am-not-impressed photos everBy Andy DelaneyThis week, SCOV cranked out five opinions and posted an entry order from a week and a half ago. As far as published opinions go, this week might be the busiest of the year thus far. It could be that the summer
By Andy Delaney Two opinions this Friday: one about workplace-safety violations and one about negligent unauthorized vaccine administration at school. We’ll start with the workplace-safety case. A now-former employee called in some violations at a job site. A Vermont Occupational Safety & Health Administration (VOSHA) inspector came to the job site, interviewed a supervisor, inspected the
What do the lines mean anyway?By Andy DelaneyThree things from this week’s decision on workers’ compensation in Vermont: (1) coverage is broad; (2) it’s remedial in nature; and-or-but (3) coverage is not without limits. As will happen often enough in Vermont, Mr. Burnett worked on both sides of “the river.” He was hired in New
By Andy DelaneyI have a lot of things to do today, so you’re going to get an even-more-abbreviated-version-than-usual post this week. Adding to my laziness brevity this week is that this is a conditional use permit and that’s not something I’m particularly conversant in. Short version: Burton wants to convert a big ol’ building it
