A white supremacist from Bennington — already having conditions of release imposed on him and repeatedly charged with violating them — has now been arrested on felony domestic violence charges for allegedly trying to strangle a woman and breaking her arm.
Max Misch, 38, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Bennington County Superior criminal court to two felony counts of aggravated domestic assault and a misdemeanor charge of domestic assault.
Judge Cortland Corsones released Misch on conditions, including that he stay away from the woman he is charged with assaulting. Bennington County Deputy State’s Attorney Alexander Burke did not seek cash bail for Misch, who attended the hearing via video.
Asked after the hearing Tuesday why she did not seek bail for Misch, Bennington County State’s Attorney Erica Marthage refused comment.
The charges allege that on Dec. 24, 2020, Misch tried to strangle the woman in his apartment in Bennington and in a separate incident he is accused of “re-breaking” her arm.
According to an affidavit filed by Bennington Police in support of the charges, the woman did not report the incidents leading to the injuries until last Friday afternoon. That’s when Misch, the filing stated, called police to try to have the woman removed from his apartment.
The latest charges against Misch come as several others remain pending against him.
It’s also not the first time he has been charged with domestic violence.
Misch had previously faced a domestic violence charge accusing him in 2016 of choking a different woman. He eventually reached a plea deal with the Bennington County State’s Attorney’s Office for a deferred sentence, allowing the record of the offense to be cleared after abiding by his probation terms.
Misch was also charged in February 2019 with two counts of illegal possession of high-capacity ammunition magazines.
A lower court judge refused to throw out the cases and he appealed to the Vermont Supreme Court, arguing that the law violated the Vermont Constitution. However, the state Supreme Court ruled against him earlier this year, saying the magazine limits of 10 rounds for long guns and 15 rounds for handguns were a reasonable restriction to promote public safety without unduly infringing on a person’s right to use a firearm in self-defense.
Police stated in a court filing that Misch and his now-ex-wife went to a store in New Hampshire on Dec. 1, 2018, and bought two 30-round magazines there. Police said they later found the magazines in a search of Misch’s Bennington apartment.
Misch, who had been released on conditions on those offenses pending trial, has since been repeatedly charged with violating those conditions. Misch has allegedly violated the release conditions by leaving the county and purchasing a firearm. He has denied those charges.
In addition, Misch was charged last year with a hate crime for allegedly hurling racist slurs during an altercation with a Black man on a street in Bennington. Another charge brought against him last year alleges he caused a public disruption in August while a Black Lives Matter mural was being painted in downtown Bennington.
Misch avoided charges in another matter investigated by Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan. In that case, Donovan announced in January 2019 that he would not bring charges against Misch, or anyone else, for racial harassment of Kiah Morris.
Morris, who had been the only Black woman in the state Legislature, decided to resign in the summer of 2018, citing in part the racial harassment. Misch had admitted to racially harassing Morris.
Bennington Police Cpl. David Faden wrote in an affidavit made public Tuesday in support of the latest charges that Misch called police Friday afternoon reporting that the woman he is charged with assaulting had been throwing items at him and refusing to leave the Gage Street apartment.
The officer added that he could see the woman had a cast on her arm and he asked her what happened. She told Faden she wasn’t leaving the apartment until her arm healed, and she accused Misch of “re-breaking” her arm that she had initially broken in a bike accident.
The woman later told Faden that Misch had choked her in December and she had photos to show it, the affidavit stated. She said she didn’t report it to police at that time “because she figured it was going to be ok and he was going to be a normal person and I was completely wrong,” the officer wrote.
The woman, according to the affidavit, said that when Misch choked her in December she was “scared for her life,” adding that when Misch gets angry he “gets really angry, really fast.”
Asked how Misch re-broke her arm, the woman told police that in a separate incident he had opened the front door fast and caused it to hit her arm resulting in another surgery for her. She added that happened when another woman was also at the apartment and that woman was being “disrespectful” to her, and it was that woman who had called the police.
According to the affidavit, Bennington Police did respond to that incident, but the woman Misch is charged with assaulting did not report that Misch had assaulted her at that time.
“I asked Misch about the incident from December. Misch said he didn’t know and
then said that they had an argument,” Faden wrote in the affidavit. “I asked Misch if he choked (the woman) and he said no.”
Later Friday at the Bennington Police Station, Misch declined to make a statement, telling police he was invoking his right to remain silent.
The most recent charges against Misch carry a possible maximum penalty of more than 30 years in prison.
