A Vermont inmate who is one the 38 prisoners who have tested positive for the coronavirus at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans lost a bid for freedom Tuesday when a federal judge ruled he should remain detained awaiting trial.
Another inmate who tested positive for Covid-19 at the same prison and sought release withdrew his court motion ahead of a hearing that had also been set for Tuesday.
According to a filing on behalf of inmate Randy Sheltra, he “is satisfactorily recovering from COVID-19 and does not wish to pursue the matter any further.”
In the hearing over the phone in federal court in Vermont that did take place Tuesday, Magistrate Judge John Conroy rejected the arguments for release raised by inmate Michael Hayes.
Hayes’ attorney argued that his client, who despite testing positive for the virus has shown few symptoms other than shortness of breath at times, had several conditions that make him vulnerable to having his conditions worsen, particularly his obesity.
However, Conroy said that wasn’t enough of an argument for Hayes to be released.
“The Covid-19 pandameic has changed the landscape of the question of release or detention,” Conroy said in explaining his decision. “Several criminal justice professionals and social scientists had advocated for the release of detained individuals as part of an overall prevention strategy.”
In this case, Conroy said, since Hayes has already tested positive for coronavirus it is beyond the prevention stage. Conroy added Hayes’ proposed release to his fiancee, who has a young child, would place those two at risk of contracting the coronavirus.
In deciding to hold Hayes in prison awaiting trial, the judge said he was swayed by the strength of the prosecutor’s case, the seriousness of the offenses, and Hayes’ past criminal record.
“I remain mindful at all times that Covid-19 poses a particular risk to a person who suffers from an obesity impairment, it’s serious business,” Conroy said. “But he’s been exposed to the virus and he will receive care from the correctional facility.”
Hayes had been held at the St. Albans prison on federal firearms and drug charges and has been moved to the Northeast Correctional Complex in St. Johnsbury.
He is among more than 30 inmates held at that prison, set up as a “surge” facility to house inmates from across the state’s correctional system who have tested positive for Covid-19.
Thirty-eight prisoners and 17 staff members at the St. Albans prison have tested positive for the virus. The Vermont Department of Corrections did mass testing at the facility after one inmate testing positive for Covid-19.
Attorney Thomas Sherrer, representing Hayes, has filed an initial motion on April 7 seeking his client’s release before he tested positive for coronavirus. In that filing, Sherrer talked of the medical conditions that made Hayes vulnerable to the virus as well as concerns about the possibility of contracting it behind bars.
Since that filing, Sherrer wrote in a more recent motion on April 14 and in arguments to the judge Tuesday that his client has since tested positive for the coronavirus.
“Mr. Hayes’ segregation with other COVID-19 patients puts him at additional risk for exacerbation of symptoms related to COVID-19,” the attorney wrote in the filing. If granted release, Sherrer told the judge, Hayes would stay at the fiancee’s home in Connecticut.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Wendy Fuller, the prosecutor, objected to Hayes’ release, despite his testing positive for the coronavirus. Fuller told the judge Tuesday she was relying mainly on her filing submitted in the case.
“This is a circumstance not unique to the defendant and the defendant currently has no signs or symptoms of the illness,” Fuller wrote in a filing submitted ahead of Tuesday’s hearing. “Because the defendant poses a significant risk to the public and the positive test does not make him any less of a risk, this Court should deny the defendant’s motion.”
The prosecutor also cited Hayes’ past criminal record and the seriousness of the current federal drug and firearms charges against him.
“However, even assuming for the sake of argument that the risk of COVID-19 were sufficient to support release, the defendant has already tested positive for the virus,” Fuller wrote. “This means that relief from custody would not provide the defendant with the protection he seeks in his original motion.”
The firearms and drug charges against Hayes stem from an investigation into the shooting death in October 2018 in the Northeast Kingdom of Michael Pimental, 39, of Waterford.
No one has been charged directly in the shooting death of Pimental, though federal firearms and drug dealing charges have been leveled against several people as part of the investigation, which remains ongoing.
Federal prosecutors have also said they are considering filing charges that carry the death penalty in the case, though they haven’t said who they would bring those capital charges against, if they do bring them.
Matthew Valerio, Vermont’s defender general whose department includes the state’s Prisoners’ Rights Office, said Tuesday that he didn’t believe that the federal ruling would set any precedent for any pending actions brought in state courts.
“The rules of the law are different in federal court,” he said. “We’re working with the Vermont statutes. They were working with federal statutes and federal rules.”
