The trial of Michael Addison is under way, in its beginning stages.
He is charged by the state of New Hampshire with the crime of capital murder, with the killing a cop who was just doing his job. The specific law says that a person is guilty of capital murder 'if he knowingly causes the death of: (a) A law enforcement officer ... acting in the line of duty.' The state has a heavy burden, as it should, when the government, the state, seeks to take a man's life or his liberty. It must prove every element of this case beyond a reasonable doubt. It must do that in the trail and in the penalty phase. Lots of work, hours of well-spent taxpayer dollars, go into running down leads and making sure everything is ready.
To prepare, the state must run down witnesses to make sure they each remember clearly what they said they saw or heard. The state is trying to figure out how this case will go into evidence, planning for the motions to suppress/dismiss/exclude that it expects, and trying to anticipate the areas in which the case is weak and prep for those things that will come up that the state does not expect.
The defendant and his team of lawyers are doing the same thing — seeing where there may be a legal opening that can be exploited to the benefit of their client. The hope is that they can save him from the death penalty. The theory in this case, as in every criminal case brought before every bar of justice in the state, indeed in the country, is that the idea and the actuality of life and of liberty is so dear, so sacred for each individual, that the bar to take it away must be set very high. That is our uniquely American idea of Justice. It makes this nation that 'city on a hill' spoken of by Winthrop and Reagan.
That's the theory.
The fact of what happened on Oct. 16, 2006 is this: Mike Briggs was a cop, an ex-Marine, a dad, a husband, a friend, who was brutally shot by someone who just didn't care about any of that. Mike Briggs died the next day, Oct. 17, 2006. The fact is that what happened that night to Mike Briggs could happen any night to any cop who is just doing his or her job. It can happen to anyone who instead of going in to the station 15 minutes early, says to his partner, "Let's go check that out."
Mike Briggs is an American hero. He gave his life so that each of us might be a bit more secure in our lives.
Mike Briggs gave his life for the idea of America, a place where everyone, no matter what they might be accused of, is entitled to a fair trial where the state must prove each and every element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt before it takes life or liberty. In my heart I am grateful for these men and women across our country who wear blue and bleed red.
Thank you Officer Michael Briggs, Badge Number 83, Manchester, N.H. Police Department, for your sacrifice. May you forever be remembered.
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Londonderry police Capt. Bill Hart's column appears every other week in the Derry News.
