WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The medical condition of a 21-year-old Hartford man who was shot in the chest during what police said was a drug-fueled argument remains “quite sensitive,” the state prosecutor said in court on Tuesday.

Windsor County State’s Attorney Ward Goodenough told the court that prosecutors “continue to monitor the health” of shooting victim Kollin Holmes during a brief status conference hearing in the criminal case before Judge Heather Gray in Windsor County Superior Court on Tuesday afternoon. Status conferences are routine hearings held to advise the court where the parties stand in respect to the charges and defense in a criminal case.

Holmes allegedly was shot by Zachary Geissler, 26, of Hartford, at an apartment on Maple Street in Hartford Village on Nov. 17, during an incident in which Geissler told police the two had been smoking crack cocaine, according to police. Holmes was subsequently found by emergency responders bleeding outside the apartment building and was admitted to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in critical condition.

Goodenough’s comments about Holmes’ medical status come after Holmes earlier this month posted on a GoFundMe page to help raise money to pay for his medical expenses that he “ran into another bump in the road” in his recovery and had been readmitted into the hospital.

Holmes wrote that after experiencing swelling in his neck he went to the emergency room and doctors “found 4 blood clots in my lungs, a blood clot and infection in my jugular vein and fluid build up in my lungs and around my heart.”

“I have been back at the hospital a week now, getting the proper medication to assist with these problems. I am feeling a lot better and hope to be able to come home soon,” Holmes reported in a Jan. 11 post.

On Tuesday, Katie Cochran, Holmes’ mother, said Holmes had been released from the hospital and was “doing the best he can.”

Geissler remains held in detention without bail at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, Vt., according to Department of Corrections records.

Goodenough twice noted during the 90 second hearing on Tuesday that the state was following the status of Holmes’ health and that the charges against Geissler would presumably be amended if warranted.

A second-degree attempted murder charge, which carries a 20-years-to-life sentence if convicted, presumably could be increased to second- or first-degree murder and come with even stiffer penalties, if a shooting victim dies.

Geissler, who has pleaded not guilty to a second degree murder charge and other felonies, told police during their initial investigation that Holmes had been shot by another person whom he could not identify, according to court records. But Holmes told police that he was shot by Geissler when the two were smoking crack cocaine in the apartment and got into a confrontation which led to Geissler drawing a handgun and shooting him.

Goodenough told the judge that both the state and Geissler’s defense attorney, Joshua Stern, of Bellows Falls, Vt., are working through a “fairly high volume of discovery” in the case.

“I think the state is approaching a position where it will be able to make a firm offer” on a plea deal, he said.

But Goodenough said he also expected that both the state and defense would be able to file a felony scheduling order — which sets mutually agreed upon dates for deadlines as if the case were heading for trial — by Friday.

“In the short term, it may make sense to have a (scheduling order) filed to act as a backdrop” nonetheless while plea negotiations take place, he said.

In addition to the second degree attempted murder charge, Geissler also faces charges of aggravated assault, a felony, and reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor, which if convicted come with sentences of up to 15 years and up to one year in prison, respectively.

Stern, Geissler’s attorney, did not return messages for comment on Tuesday.

Contact John Lippman at jlippman@vnews.com.

CORRECTION: Kollin Holmes, 21, of Hartford, is alleged to have been shot at an apartment on Maple Street in Hartford Village on Nov. 17. A previous version of this story included an incorrect date for the shooting.