Virgin Islands Supreme Court orders Superior Court to pay cost of ankle monitors unless fee gets set

ST. CROIX — The Judiciary of the Virgin Islands must now pay the cost of pretrial electronic monitoring for defendants on house arrest following a recent Supreme Court ruling unless the high court establishes such fees.

The Superior Court cannot require defendants to pay for pretrial electronic monitoring because such fees have not yet been set, according to the Supreme Court’s opinion. The Supreme Court ruled on the matter while considering a case on appeal from the Superior Court.

Shekil Berthier appealed the Superior Court’s June 4, 2021 order denying his motion to be relieved of pretrial electronic monitoring and the associated costs of the electronic monitoring device. The Supreme Court affirmed the Superior Court’s ordering of electronic monitoring as a condition of pretrial release but reversed the imposition of its costs upon Berthier.

Berthier was released from custody pending trial and placed on 24-hour house arrest with electronic monitoring following his arrest on September 25, 2020 for allegedly sending threatening texts to a man and then shooting into the man’s occupied home. The charges against Berthier were subsequently dismissed without prejudice on December 22, 2022.