Justia New Hampshire Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Defendant Robinson Garcia was certified as an adult and convicted of one count of second-degree murder and one count of riot. On appeal, he argued that the Superior Court erroneously: (1) denied his motions to suppress; (2) excluded the testimony of a defense witness; and (3) prohibited him from testifying about statements made by the victim. Defendant's convictions arose out of the August 11, 2005 beating of Stephen Raymond in Manchester. After Raymond's death, Defendant was charged with second-degree murder. Defendant was also charged with three alternative theories of felony-level riot, alleging that he assembled with others with the purpose of causing Raymond to suffer serious injuries. The trial court made a number of rulings unfavorable to Defendant. Defendant appealed those rulings. Upon review, the Supreme Court found the evidence presented at trial supported his convictions, and affirmed the trial court's decisions in his case. View "New Hampshire v. Garcia" on Justia Law

Defendant Diego Duran appealed his conviction by a jury on one count of being a felon in possession of a deadly weapon. He argued that the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss because there was insufficient evidence both that he possessed the weapon and that the weapon was a deadly weapon. In 2009, Defendant, who was an inmate at the New Hampshire State Prison, was showering when another inmate was seen placing a suspicious object in Defendant's shoe. Prison officials asked to see Defendant's shoes, but Defendant ignored the request. In the bathroom, prison officials observed the other inmate throw the item from the shoe into the toilet and then asked the Defendant to flush the toilet. The official ordered Defendant not to flush the toilet, but Defendant flushed anyway. Officials retrieved the object, and "[b]ased upon his eleven years of experience, [the official] determined that the object was likely a 'shank.'" Upon review of the trial court record, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's decision and upheld Defendant's conviction. View "New Hampshire v. Duran" on Justia Law

After a jury trial in superior court Defendant Christopher Guay was convicted of three counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault (AFSA), and one count of felonious sexual assault (FSA). On appeal he argued that the trial court erred by: (1) failing to grant his request for a mistrial; (2) failing to dismiss one of the three AFSA counts; and (3) denying him access to all of the victim’s medical and counseling records. The victim was Defendant's biological daughter, who was allegedly assaulted twice in 2008. At trial, Defendant testified in his own defense. During testimony, immediately after he stated that listening to the victim's accusations against him was "heartbreaking," the victim shouted out from the back of the courtroom, "You’re such a freakin’ liar." The trial court denied Defendant’s request for a mistrial but twice issued curative instructions to the jury. The jury found Defendant guilty on all three counts of AFSA and one count of FSA. Upon review, the Supreme Court found that Defendant was convicted based upon insufficient evidence of guilt, and "to allow the defendant's conviction to stand would seriously affect the fairness and integrity of judicial proceedings." The Court reversed the trial court's decision as it pertained to one AFSA charge. The Court affirmed the trial court in all other respects. The case was remanded for further proceedings. View "New Hampshire v. Guay" on Justia Law

Defendant Anthony Kay appealed a superior court decision that found he violated his probation and imposed jail time. On appeal, Defendant argued that the trial court erred by finding he violated his probation and that the violation was based on his failure to pay child support. In 2008, Defendant pled guilty to two felony counts of failing to pay child support. At the time of sentencing, he owed nearly $70,000 in two separate support cases. The superior court sentenced Defendant to two concurrent terms of two to five years at the state prison and placed him on probation. He was ordered to make weekly payments and he did while he was employed. Defendant admitted that he stopped reporting to his probation officer after he became unemployed and that he never sought to modify his support payments at any time. Upon review of the record and the applicable legal authority, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's decision. View "New Hampshire v. Kay" on Justia Law

Following a jury trial, Defendant Peter Eaton was convicted on multiple sexual assault charges and for indecent exposure. On appeal, he argued that the trial court erred when it denied his pre-trial motions for in-camera review of the victim's counseling records, for production of records from the police department and by failing to dismiss his case for lack of a "speedy trial." Upon review of the record, the Supreme Court concluded that the trial court did err when it declined to review the victim's counseling records. The Court reversed the trial court's holding with respect to the review of the counseling records, but affirmed the trial court with respect to all of Defendant's other motions. The Court remanded the case for further proceedings. View "New Hampshire v. Eaton" on Justia Law

In 2009, Defendant Ryan LaPlaca pled true to a probation violation. As a result, he was sentenced to two-and-one-half to five years in the state prison, with five years suspended. As a condition of his sentence, Defendant agreed to participate in a drug court sentencing program. Defendant waived his rights to any and all subsequent hearings as a condition of his participation in the program. Furthermore, any violation of the terms of the program would result in sanctions. The State moved to impose Defendant's suspended sentence when he pled true to the probation violation. The trial court granted the State's motion without an additional hearing, citing the conditions of Defendant's participation in the drug court program. On appeal, Defendant argued that the trial court erred by refusing to hold a hearing prior to issuing his sentence. On reversing the trial court's decision, the Supreme Court found that "it would subvert the requirements of due process to uphold the defendant's prospective waiver of his right to a hearing . . .[w]hen the defendant faces the potential imposition of a full sentence of incarceration." Accordingly, the Court remanded the case to the trial court for further proceedings. View "New Hampshire v. LaPlaca" on Justia Law

Following a jury trial, Defendant Andre Rivera was convicted as an accomplice to reckless second-degree murder. In 2007, he and four others discussed robbing a local drug dealer. The group assailed the dealer, and when the dealer fought back, one of the five shot the dealer to death. Defendant appealed his conviction, arguing that the trial court erred in refusing to dismiss his indictment for lack of proof that he "acted with the purpose to promote or facilitate the specific actus reus of the principal offense" which was the murder of the drug dealer. Upon careful consideration of the trial court record, the Supreme Court found the evidence sufficient to support Defendant's conviction. The Court affirmed the trial court's decision. View "New Hampshire v. Rivera" on Justia Law

Defendant Luis Lopez was convicted in 2007 on felony child endangerment charges. On appeal to the Supreme Court, Defendant argued that there was insufficient evidence presented at trial to convict him. The child’s mother found sexually suggestive images of her daughter on Defendant’s cell phone and called police. At issue on appeal was whether Defendant requested the child pose for him when the record revealed the child, when at play, liked to imagine herself as a runway model and "pose" for Defendant. The Supreme Court found that a "rational trier of fact" could have concluded that Defendant solicited the child for the suggestive images. The Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction. View "New Hampshire v. Lopez" on Justia Law

Defendant James Mello appealed his conviction on four counts of delivering child pornography. On appeal to the Supreme Court, he argued that the Superior Court erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence derived from a search warrant issued by the district court which authorized a search for information held by his Internet service provider. On appeal to the Supreme Court, Defendant argued that the district court exceeded the scope of its jurisdiction by issuing the warrant. Furthermore, he argued that the warrant violated his state and federal constitutional rights. The Supreme Court found that the district court did not exceed its jurisdiction, and that Defendant had no expectation of privacy in the Internet information. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the trial court's decision.

In July 2009, a grand jury indicted Defendant Richard MacDonald on one count of aggravated felonious sexual assault for having sex with a person whom he knew to be âmentally defective.â At trial, Defendant filed a motion seeking in camera review of the victimâs medical and mental health records. The State did not object. The court received over two thousand pages of the victimâs medical records. The court assumed without review, that the records were probably relevant, and allowed the documents to be produced âfor Counselâs eyes only.â The State objected to the courtâs lack-of-review, arguing that the point of in camera review was for the court to decide which documents were appropriate. Defendant objected, and the State applied for a writ of certiorari to compel the trial court to determine the disclosure of the appropriate records. The Supreme Court granted the writ, and held that the lower courtâs failure to review the records was an error. The Court remanded the case to the trial court for an in camera review of the medical records.