A month after Max Misch resolved five of his criminal cases, the self-avowed white nationalist and military veteran was back in court Monday to answer to a new charge.
Misch, 39, pleaded not guilty in Bennington Superior criminal court to violating a home confinement order that had been in effect until August. The misdemeanor violation is punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.
Court documents show that shortly before 5 p.m. on Aug. 3, in response to a call, Bennington police found Misch walking in the downtown area with a friend. The responding officer issued Misch a citation when he came to the police department on Aug. 15.
Back in December, because of his mounting criminal charges, the court placed Misch on house arrest for 22 hours a day. He was permitted to leave his home in Bennington only between noon and 2 p.m. to shop for food and other necessities. The court also allowed exceptions for court hearings, meetings with his attorney, medical appointments, counseling and medical emergencies.
At the hearing on Monday, Judge Kerry McDonald-Cady allowed Misch to remain free from jail so long as he followed the existing conditions of release in his outstanding criminal cases.
At the same time, Misch is on probation for two years – a sentence he received in August shortly after pleading guilty to aggravated domestic assault and disorderly conduct as a hate crime. His guilty plea was part of a deal with the Bennington County State’s Attorney’s Office that resolved five of his cases.
The court lifted Misch’s home confinement order on Aug. 24, saying his probationary conditions offered stronger public safety protections.
Misch, a combat veteran of the Iraq War, has four other open criminal cases in Bennington, which are being prosecuted by the Vermont Attorney General’s Office. They include two charges of illegally possessing high-capacity firearms magazines in 2019 – his oldest and highest-profile charges.
Misch’s attorneys have renewed their request to have the magazine charges dismissed, largely basing their argument on a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that altered the test for evaluating the constitutionality of gun safety laws.
The Attorney General’s Office has been given more time to file a response to the request, with the court extending its deadline to Dec. 31. The prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Robert Lees, earlier said the state wanted more time to respond to the “novel and complex legal issues” that Misch’s attorneys have raised.