Bolaski held without bail, decision appealed

Less than two weeks after the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that an “obvious error” had been made during jury instructions in the Kyle Bolaski case, the retrial process has begun.

http://rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=RH&Date=20140508&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=705089995 After being returned from prison in Kentucky to White River Junction’s courthouse Kyle Bolaski, 30, of Chester took his seat Wednesday for a hearing about the retrial of his murder case which was recently ordered by the Vermont Supreme Court. @$ID/[No paragraph style]:> Photo: PHOTO BY ERIC FRANCISPublished May 8, 2014 in the Rutland Herald Bolaski held without bail, decision appealed By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Less than two weeks after the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that an “obvious error” had been made during jury instructions in the Kyle Bolaski case, the retrial process has begun. The high court ruled April 25 that the Springfield man was improperly convicted of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a Massachusetts man at a Chester softball field in 2008. Bolaski, 30, was convicted in 2011 of killing Vincent Tamburello and is serving a prison term of 25 years to life. The state’s highest court, acting on Bolaski’s appeal, ordered a new trial. Bolaski, who has been in prison since 2011, had hoped to be let back out into the community on the same release conditions he had before his conviction but Judge Karen Carroll instead ordered him held without bail. Carroll said Wednesday during a hearing in White River Junction criminal court that she agreed with special prosecutor John Lavoie who argued that, even though the Supreme Court justices had unanimously concluded Bolaski deserved another trial, Bolaski was no longer in same position he was before a jury spent less than an hour at the conclusion of a multi-week trial deciding there was enough evidence to convict him of the second-degree murder. The Vermont Supreme Court’s decision found that a key instruction to the jury had been omitted at Bolaski’s trial. That instruction would have made it possible for jurors to consider lesser offenses, such as voluntary manslaughter, the decision stated. Bolaski’s defense attorney, Brian Marsicovetere, tried unsuccessfully Wednesday to get Carroll to reconsider her bail ruling and within the hour filed a notice with the court clerks’ office that he was appealing her decision back up to the Vermont Supreme Court. Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Bolaski’s parents said they were “cautiously optimistic” about the recent turn of events in their son’s case, saying they had first learned there would be a new trial when Kyle Bolaski called them as they were driving to visit him at the prison in Kentucky and told them he had “good news” from the Supreme Court. Kathy Bolaski became emotional as she described her son’s participation in Kentucky prison’s dog rehabilitation program which pairs animals that have been classified by shelters as too difficult and unruly for adoption with inmates who are willing to take the time to put them through obedience training and keep detailed journals about the dog’s progress. “He’s trained 12 dogs so far and all of his dogs have since been adopted,” she said proudly. “He chose to do something constructive with his time down there and he saved these dogs that would otherwise had to have been killed.” David Bolaski said he remains convinced of his son’s innocence and said he was encouraged by the portions of the recent Supreme Court decision that clearly urged any future trial court to admit medical records which were excluded from the original trial. “I think those records will help show that this was self-defense,” Bolaski’s father said.