Christopher Sullivan, 57, had been behind bars for about two years on his 2015 convictions for drunken driving with death resulting and leaving the scene of a fatality. The April 2013 crash in downtown Rutland killed Mary Jane Outslay, 71, of Mendon.
Last month, the Vermont Supreme Court threw out his four- to 10-year sentence but affirmed his convictions. Wednesday his wife posted a required 10 percent deposit on her husband’s $500,000 bail as he awaits a new sentencing hearing. She paid the deposit with a $50,000 check, court records state.
If Sullivan were to flee before his new sentencing on June 29, his wife, Margaret Sullivan, could be on the hook for the full $500,000 bail.
Christopher Sullivan faces several conditions while free on bail, including that he not drive or drink alcohol. He must report once daily to the Rutland County Sheriff’s Department, and he cannot leave Rutland County without the court’s permission.
Joshua O’Hara, his public defender, and Assistant Attorney General Ultan Doyle, who is prosecuting the case, could not be reached Thursday for comment.
In overturning his sentence, the high court ruled that the trial judge should have allowed the defense more time to hire, prepare and present a “mitigation” expert at his sentencing hearing.
Such an expert, Christopher Sullivan’s attorneys have contended, would help explain why he fled the scene of the crash, which took place about 7:45 p.m. on April 10, 2013. According to court records, Christopher Sullivan drove into Outslay as she tried to cross a street. A day later, he went to the police station and reported that he was the driver in the fatal crash.
Judge Theresa DiMauro, at a hearing in the case last week, refused to take up a request to release Christopher Sullivan on home confinement, saying it wasn’t permitted for defendants already convicted of a crime and awaiting sentencing.
The judge also said that at the new sentencing hearing later this month, the proceeding would be limited to the testimony of the mitigation witness. The defendant, the judge added, faces the possibility at that hearing of having a sentence the same, shorter or longer imposed.