S. Ct. Crim. No. 2012-0078

Upon an application under Supreme Court Rule 8(d) by a defendant seeking bail pending appeal and a stay of the imposition of sentence, after conviction on numerous charges relating to his activities while employed with the Government Employees Retirement System, neither the United States Constitution, the Revised Organic Act of 1954, nor any law yet enacted by Congress or the Virgin Islands Legislature, creates a right for convicted criminal defendants to receive bail pending appeal. Under Virgin Islands law, a court rule may not create or alter substantive rights, and thus Supreme Court Rule 8(d) cannot create a right to bail pending appeal or empower the Court to order the release of a convicted criminal defendant pending appeal. Absent extraordinary circumstances, the Supreme Court may only release a convicted defendant from incarceration after hearing the appeal, adjudicating it on the merits, and concluding that the defendant is entitled to an acquittal, a new trial, or a similar remedy. In the present case, the application for bail pending appeal and a stay of the imposition of sentence is denied.