State v. Hemingway, 196 Vt. 441 (2014)

Citation: State v. Hemingway, 196 Vt. 441 (2014)
Parent Document: State v. Hemingway, 196 Vt. 441 (2014)
Jurisdiction: Vermont (state)
Effective Date: 2014-05-09
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2673207/state-v-hemingway/ ↗

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¶ 18.        
This case similarly presents a compelling example of that need. 
The first page of the plea agreement states in summary terms the six additional
probation conditions defendant will agree to for the three offenses covered by
that page.  The second page, which is separately signed by defendant, the
prosecutor, and the judge, covers three additional offenses but contains no
special probation conditions for those offenses.  On the backs of both
pages is a list of the standard conditions that will be imposed by the
court.  Not all the standard conditions ultimately included in the court
order are stated on this back side.  At the change-of-plea hearing the
prosecutor described the six additional probation terms to be imposed as “the
probation conditions” and never mentioned the standard probation
conditions.  The only statement from the judge was: “And the other
conditions we’ve described here all apply,” even though the judge had described
no probation conditions.  We recognize that the probation condition for
which there is the strongest claim that defendant had actual notice is the one
at issue, at least as to the three offenses covered by it.  The statement
of this condition in the plea agreement is the same as in the probation
order.  If the violation were based on one of the standard conditions, the
State would have to argue actual notice based on the boilerplate terms on the
back of the plea agreement—that defendant probably never saw—and in the face of
the prosecutor’s statement that the probation conditions were the six special
conditions, without mentioning the standard conditions.  If the violation
were based on a condition added by the court, with no notice to the defendant,
this case would be even clearer.

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