Man accused of trying to light Molotov cocktail released to his property in Maine

September 20, 2023 | By Eric Blaisdell | Times Argus staff writer 

BARRE — A man accused of trying to light a Molotov cocktail on fire on another man’s property, vandalizing a family member’s vehicle and other crimes has been released so he can live at his home in Maine while the cases against him are pending.

John T. Neville, 51, is facing 20 criminal charges in Washington County criminal court in Barre, including a felony count of attempted first-degree arson, a felony count of unlawful mischief, a misdemeanor count of simple assault, a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence for a second time, as well as multiple misdemeanor counts alleging he violated conditions of release and an abuse prevention order.

According to court records for the attempted arson charge, Neville placed a Molotov cocktail on a man’s Waterbury Center property on July 11 and tried to light it. Police said the victim reported he had been working with Neville on cannabis-related matters when the victim decided against selecting Neville for a head grower position at a local farm. Police said the victim reported Neville then started harassing the victim and would stand across the street from the victim’s property and would shoot a gun into the air.

An investigation showed the Molotov cocktail was a beer growler with a wick and gasoline inside, according to court records. Also inside the growler, police said they found three posted signs that apparently were stolen from the victim’s property.

State police currently have an open arson investigation of a suspicious fire at the same property as the Molotov cocktail incident. A camper was destroyed by fire there on July 1. No one was injured although the owner was in the house on the property at the time, according to investigators.

For the simple assault charge, police said Neville confronted the victim on the victim’s property during a separate incident and hit the victim in the head with a beer bottle.

For the felony unlawful mischief charge, police said after Neville was arraigned on the attempted arson charge, a neighbor called police to report Neville had been disturbing the community by playing “loud satanic music” at all hours of the night on Aug. 30. Police said they went to Neville’s home in Waterbury on and found a vehicle that belonged to a member of Neville’s family was spray-painted with swastikas and an obscenity was written on the vehicle’s back bumper. The front and rear windshields on the vehicle had been shattered, according to court records.

Police said they made multiple attempts to contact Neville at his home, but were unsuccessful. Neville avoided contact with police and was taken into custody on Aug. 2 after police executed a search warrant on his property, according to court records. While in custody, police said Neville removed his clothes and urinated on the holding cell floor.

During arraignment on his latest charges Aug. 3, Neville was ordered held pending release to a responsible adult. Attorney Andrew Pappone, who represents Neville, argued unsuccessfully for Neville’s release so that Neville could go to his property in Maine. Prior to the Aug. 3 arraignment, the state filed a motion in Neville’s attempted arson case seeking to have Neville held without bail while the cases against him are pending.

Judge Kevin Griffin wasn’t available for the Aug. 3 arraignment, so that hearing was handled by Judge Scott Kline, who ordered Neville held pending release to a responsible adult who could face their own criminal charges if they didn’t report any violations of Neville’s conditions of release.

A weight-of-the-evidence hearing on the state’s motion to hold Neville without bail was supposed to take place last week, but Judge Timothy Tomasi canceled the hearing and denied the state’s motion, noting attempted arson isn’t a qualifiable offense to hold someone without bail under state law.

With Judge Griffin back on the bench, Pappone filed a motion looking to do away with the responsible adult condition. The defense attorney noted Judge Griffin has said in the past that the state asking for a condition seeking a responsible adult before the accused can be released without a particular adult present is akin to a backdoor way to hold someone without bail without actually going through the process of obtaining such a hold.

A hearing on Pappone’s motion took place Thursday, Aug. 31.

Pappone said holding Neville pending release to a responsible adult when such an adult cannot be found to take custody of Neville is preventative detention of someone who has not been convicted of a crime, which isn’t allowed under the Vermont Constitution.

Deputy State’s Attorney Patricia Shane said there is no precedent establishing the responsible adult condition as a constitutional violation.

Shane said the state did not seek the responsible adult condition for the sake of prevention. She said Neville is a risk of flight, given the number of criminal charges he’s now facing, including alleged violations of court orders, and the fact that he has property in Maine that he can go to. The prosecutor noted a competency evaluation has been ordered for Neville, which is pending.

“The state is concerned that if the defendant is released, there will be a risk of flight because of that Maine home, without a (responsible adult) condition in place,” Shane said.

Judge Griffin said it’s curious to him that no one has appealed this issue yet to the state Supreme Court to obtain some clarity.

The judge said his reading of the law is that if the state is going to request a responsible adult condition, then there needs to be a person or organization, submitted either by the state or the defense, who would be ready and willing to take custody of the defendant when the condition is requested. He said his reading is not for the state to ask for the condition in the hopes that the defense could find a responsible adult at some point and if not, the defendant sits in prison pretrial.

“In this case, there is no bail holding Mr. Neville in,” Judge Griffin said. “So he can’t post bail. If the judge had made the decision to set $10,000 cash or surety and he posted bail, he walks out. But doing it this way denies him the ability to either post bail or unless he has the capacity to come up with a custodian that the court finds appropriate. That’s the problem with an application like this.”

After learning that Neville planned to stay at a hotel in Stowe for a couple days if released, before being transported by a friend to his home in Maine, Judge Griffin said he would strike the responsible adult condition so Neville could be released.

The judge asked how the competency evaluation could take place with Neville in Maine. Pappone said such evaluations are now done virtually, so that can be done just as easily with Neville in another state.

Judge Griffin said he did not share the state’s concern that Neville is a risk of flight if he’s allowed to live in Maine.

“In fact, given the problems that were happening in the Washington County community over the period of about 31 days, it probably is a great idea to get Mr. Neville out of here,” he said.

The judge said if Neville doesn’t appear for future hearings, a warrant will be issued for his arrest. He said in that scenario, the likelihood is a high bail amount would be set to hold him until the cases are resolved.

Washington County State’s Attorney Michelle Donnelly asked how Neville is to be supervised in Maine to make sure he’s abiding by his conditions, which include a curfew. The judge suggested the state could reach out to police in Maine to let them know Neville is coming and what his conditions are.

This story was originally published in The Times Argus on Sept. 1.