[VT] Atty. / Judge Melvin Neisner who let wife be arrested for his crimes faced 24 years, then 8, now no time at all

Melvin Neisner, who also is a former acting Vermont traffic court judge, was convicted in November 2008 of causing a motorcycle to hit his vehicle in September 2007 and then leaving the scene of the crash. He later told police his wife had been driving, and initially she was charged with hit-and-run...

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[VT] Judge/ Atttorney Neisner who used wife Margaret as his scapegoat - is convicted - ...The reduction to the charges has a major impact on the potential punishment for Neisner, who will be sentenced at a later date. Instead of facing a maximum of 24 years in jail, Neisner now faces a maximum of eight years' imprisonment...

COURT CUTS PUNISHMENT FOR LAWYER IN HIT-AND-RUN
The Burlington Free Press
Thursday, December 30, 2010
[Excerpts] The Vermont Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a Killington lawyer should not have been convicted of both impeding a public officer and of giving false information to a police officer, and threw out his related jail sentence. Melvin Neisner, who also is a former acting Vermont traffic court judge, was convicted in November 2008 of causing a motorcycle to hit his vehicle in September 2007 and then leaving the scene of the crash. He later told police his wife had been driving, and initially she was charged with hit-and-run. In June, he was sentenced to 39 days in jail, but the term was put on hold pending his appeal to the Supreme Court. In a unanimous opinion written by Associate Justice Marilyn Skoglund, the high court found that trying and convicting Neisner of impeding an officer and lying to an officer violated his right not to be punished twice for the same crime — in this case, being dishonest with authorities... In a separate opinion Thursday, the Supreme Court changed the terms of Neisner’s professional punishment for misconduct. Initially he was suspended from practicing law for a year, ordered to serve the following year on probation, and during that time perform 500 hours of free legal work for the indigent. Justices ruled instead that Neisner should have his law license suspended for two years (back-dated to a preliminary suspension that began Jan. 9, 2009) and perform 200 hours of free — or pro-bono — legal work. [Full article here]
[public official involved domestic violence oidv intimate partner violence (IPV) abuse law enforcement public safety dishonesty double jeapordy vermont state scapegoat teflon]