The Vermont Supreme Court has ruled that a Massachusetts teenager, who was 15 at the time he was charged, along with four other suspects, with holding several people hostage at gunpoint in Brandon, can be tried in an adult court. A three-judge panel of the state’s highest court issued a decision this week rejecting that bid, affirming an earlier ruling by Judge Patricia Zimmerman allowing Colon to be tried in adult court. In rejecting Colon’s bid to transfer the matter to a juvenile proceeding, the Supreme Court ruling stated, “The factors and conclusion specifically proposed by (Colon’s attorney) in his post-hearing filings in support of transfer immaturity and marginal competence, prior record, rehabilitation and public were all addressed by (Zimmerman’s) findings and order. Although a motive for the hostage taking is not spelled out in court records, documents filed by police suggest drugs played a role. read more

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