21-year-old denied bail after 4th DUI charge
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By Mel Huff Times Argus Staff - Published: December 2, 2008
BARRE – A 21-year-old Montpelier man with three previous convictions for driving while under the influence of intoxicants was arraigned Monday on a new DUI charge and held without bail for violation of probation on the earlier charges.
He also faces charges of stealing a pickup truck that was invovled in an accident.
State police said a dispatcher received a call at 12:15 a.m. Monday from Burt Marsh, who reported having an accident on Extension Road (East Hill Road) in Middlesex and said he needed a tow truck to get his pickup back on the road, according to a state police affidavit. Senior Trooper R.J. Lucas arrived to investigate and found the truck hung up on a stone wall.
Marsh told Lucas he slid off the road because of the ice and snow, but Lucas said he noticed that Marsh's eyes were watery and his speech slurred and slow, the affidavit said. It stated that Marsh told the officer that he was drinking "40s" (40-ounce beers), and that when he got out of the pickup to take a sobriety test, he fell down.
Marsh registered a 0.221 percent blood alcohol level on an evidentiary sample that he provided an hour and a half later, the report said well above the legal alcohol limit of .08. Marsh was charged with DUI and also with driving with a suspended license; as a result of prior convictions, his license had been suspended until May 9, 2009.
Marsh told trooper Lucas the truck belonged to a friend, Benjamin Cavallari, who had said he could use the truck whenever he wanted, according to the affidavit.
But Monday morning, a Montpelier police officer received a complaint from Cavallari reporting his Nissan Frontier pickup was stolen. The officer ran the license number, discovered that the pick-up had been in a wreck shortly after midnight and called Cavallari, who denied giving Marsh permission to drive it, the Montpelier affidavit said.
A charge of operating without the owner's consent was added to the other charges stemming from the wreck.
Marsh pled not guilty on all charges at his arraignment Monday afternoon.
Washington County State's Attorney Tom Kelly argued that Marsh had three prior DUI convictions and argued he should not be allowed out on bail. He was first convicted in 2005; his preliminary breath test at the time of his arrest was 0.166. In June 2007, he was charged again with DUI; the test result was 0.195. In July, he picked up a third DUI charge, with a blood alcohol test of 0.147, Kelly said.
In October 2007, Marsh was sentenced for the June and July DUI charges, as well as for violating a condition of release and operating an automobile without the owner's permission, Kelly said in an interview. He was sentenced to serve two months to 48 months for the four offenses, with all but 45 days suspended, and has been on probation ever since, Kelly said.
In June 2008, Marsh was arrested for violating the conditions of his probation for the 2007 DUIs – specifically, for not completing substance abuse counseling, not participating in a victim impact panel, and for drug use, Kelley said. Marsh pled not guilty to the violation of parole charge, and was released with the charge pending.
As a result of Monday's incident, he added a new DUI charge and an additional charge of violating parole. Kelly asked the court to hold Marsh without bail "because of safety concerns and because he's not abiding by conditions."
Jeffrey Wilson, who represented Marsh, challenged Kelly's statement that Marsh was not willing to follow conditions, arguing, "It's really the case of a kid who needs not only alcohol counseling but also some mental health counseling as well."
Marsh had been working as the manager of the Ben and Jerry's Scoop Shop in Montpelier and "doing an excellent job," Wilson said, but when it closed, Marsh "found himself unemployed and falling into a little bit of a hole."
Wilson said that Marsh wanted to get into mental health counseling and would do so within seven days, and that he was willing to take part in an in-patient substance abuse program.
But Judge Brian Grearson sided with state's attoreny Kelly. Citing "a series of failed appointments" before Marsh lost his job on Sept. 5, he said, "While he might have some underlying mental health issues, it also appears he was not doing well in substance abuse counseling, and that was what brought him here."
Judge Grearson noted Marsh failed to follow through with counseling or with other conditions. "I'm having trouble seeing that he's done anything to comply with conditions of probation," Grearson stated, adding that "when it comes to violation of probation, he's not entitled to bail, and under the circumstances, we're going to hold him."
Although Marsh is being held without bail pending a hearing on the violation of probation charge, he was released on probation, with several conditions, on the other charges. If he is found to have violated parole, the underlying 2-month-to-48-month sentence could be imposed.
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