BENNINGTON — A Bennington white nationalist who is facing multiple felony and misdemeanor charges is scheduled for a May jury trial in his domestic assault case — the first of his nine criminal cases to be set for trial.
During a hearing on Monday, the Bennington Superior criminal court granted a request from Max Misch’s attorney, ordering him to be placed on the local jury trial list for May.
Public defender Fred Bragdon said he is ready to try Misch’s domestic assault case, which includes two felony charges of first-degree aggravated domestic assault.
Authorities accuse Misch, 39, of choking a woman as well as re-injuring her broken arm in separate incidents between December 2020 and July of last year. Misch denies the allegations.
Each felony charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and/or a $25,000 fine — the stiffest penalties Misch faces among his pending cases.
Misch’s attorney believes taking the domestic assault case to trial could help resolve his eight other criminal cases, which are all being heard in Bennington County.
“If there was a conviction, it would probably drive a resolution to everything else,” Bragdon said. “If there isn’t a conviction, we can move on to the next felony matter.”
He was referring to Misch’s charge of obstruction of justice. It alleges that Misch sought to influence or intimidate the complainant in his domestic assault case into changing her testimony. Misch also denies that charge.
Misch’s attorney said he still hopes they can reach a settlement in the cases. The Bennington County State’s Attorney’s Office is prosecuting five of them, including the domestic assault and obstruction of justice charges.
The Vermont Attorney General’s Office, meanwhile, is handling four misdemeanor cases. They include Misch’s oldest and most-watched case, which involves two charges of illegally possessing high-capacity firearm magazines in February 2019 — based on a state law that Misch had sought the Vermont Supreme Court to invalidate but failed.
“I think that we have finally completed all our litigation on the magazine case,” Bragdon said at the hearing on Monday afternoon.
Prosecutors didn’t state a preference on which case should go to trial first. Judge Cortland Corsones decided to prioritize the domestic assault case, saying it is a felony matter with a victim who is waiting for a resolution. He also scheduled Misch for a pretrial hearing in April.
Misch, who has been placed on 22-hour daily house arrest because of his mounting charges, attended the hearing remotely.
The curfew was added to Misch’s previous conditions of release from jail, which include not possessing or using firearms, as well as not having contact with former Bennington state Rep. Kiah Morris.
Misch has admitted to racially harassing Morris when she was the only Black woman in the state Legislature. She resigned in the summer of 2018, citing racial harassment as a reason.
Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan investigated the matter, but decided not to file criminal charges against Misch or anyone else, pointing to the broad protections of the First Amendment.
In response to a message from VTDigger, Misch said he has not previously faced a jury trial.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Jury trial planned for avowed white nationalist on domestic assault charges.
