A Vermont Superior Court judge is deliberating whether a 73-year-old South Royalton man accused of murdering his wife two years ago should be released on bail due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
A hearing for Frank Sanville began last week in Windham Superior Court in Brattleboro, Vt., and included three days of testimony from Vermont Department of Corrections officials and people familiar with Sanville’s case. Many spoke about the risk Sanville faces of catching the virus in jail, as well as the risk of releasing him pending a trial.
Sanville, who is being held without bail at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, Vt., pleaded not guilty to charges of murder in 2018.
He is accused of stealing a gun and traveling 18 miles to his estranged wife’s home in March of that year and shooting her to death, according to court records. Prosecutors have said Sanville was out on furlough for a domestic violence charge against his wife at the time.
A trial was originally scheduled for next month, but after the outbreak of the new coronavirus shut down courts and led to strict social distancing orders, his attorney, Robert Sussman, filed a motion to have Sanville released for his own safety from the close quarters of a jail.
In the motion, Sussman wrote that because of his age, Sanville is at high risk of se vere complications if he catches the virus.
“A Ma y trial may not be feasible, pushing the case back even further and making the possibility of extreme medical complications even more likely if he is not released in the interim,” Sussman wrote in the motion.
During the hearing Monday, Will Hunter, an inmates’ rights activist, testified that he can help find housing for Sanville an hour away from South Royalton while he’s out on bail.
But former Windsor County State’s Attorney David Cahill, who returned to handle the hearing this week, said the housing will do little to keep Sanville from committing another dangerous offense.
“You are not in a position to prevent him from stealing a firearm, are you?” he asked Hunter, who agreed.
Cahill argued that Sanville could pose a risk to the witnesses who were present during the alleged shooting, or to the community at large if he is released. He also accused Sussman of using the coronavirus pandemic to further a larger goal.
“The defendant’s goal is not in good faith or mediation, but rather a broader goal of decarceration,” he said during the hearing, which was livestreamed.
Sussman disagreed, arguing that he knows the seriousness of the allegations against Sanville but that his client is “extraordinarily vulnerable” and staying in jail increases his chances of getting sick.
“No one anticipated a pandemic,” he said.
The motion is one of many similar requests that defense attorneys across the state have filed on behalf of their incarcerated clients following the outbreak of the virus, according to Windsor County State’s Attorney Ward Goodenough.
Many of the motions have been consolidated, meaning much of the testimony last week and Monday in the Brattleboro courthouse centered on the response multiple correctional facilities around Vermont have had to the outbreak of the virus.
As of last week, 38 inmates in Vermont have tested positive for COVID-19, according to VTDigger.
The site reported that the majority of the cases were at Northeast Correctional Complex in St. Johnsbury, which has been approved to accept COVID-19-positive inmates.
Department of Corrections Facilities Executive Alan Cormier testified last week that guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about staying six-feet apart are hard to achieve in a jail or prison setting. He said inmates’ beds are a few feet apart, and that the only way jails could accommodate the six-foot guideline is if there was one inmate in each cell.
To do that, they would have to release 700 to 800 inmates, he testified.
Despite the limitations, some Vermont prisons, such as Northern State Correctional Facility, which saw an employee test positive with the virus in March, are trying to implement safety measures, according to Superintendent Greg Hale.
In testimony Monday, he said they’re cleaning more frequently, they’ve prevented visitors from entering the facility, and they hold any packages that the facility receives for 24 hours before distributing them.
He also testified that all inmates are required to wear masks, and he watches surveillance footage of the facility to ensure inmates and employees are following guidelines for protective equipment.
At the Northeast Correctional Complex, Superintendent Norah Quinn testified Monday that the facility has implemented strict safety measures.
Inmates who have the virus are given weekly “hygiene packs” with items like soap and extra clothing and all inmates get their meals brought to them in their cells.
Anna Merriman can be reached at amerriman@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.