By James A. Kimble
Staff writer
Fri, May 16 2008 CONCORD — A proposal to expand the state's death penalty law to make killing Family Court judges and court security officers a capital offense will likely be nixed by its sponsors because of a last-minute change to the bill. Sen. Bob Letourneau, R-Derry, said he plans to ask the Senate to get rid of the bill next week because of an amendment calling for a study of whether capital punishment is legal or fair. The amendment was proposed by Rep. Lori Movsesian, D-Nashua, a death penalty opponent who sought a compromise among lawmakers to delay passing the bill into law. It's the latest in a tit for tat expected to play out in the Statehouse as New Hampshire draws closer to its first two capital murder trials in decades. Attorney General Kelly Ayotte told lawmakers last week she opposed the study committee, saying it was the wrong time to question capital punishment since prosecutors are well underway with the two cases. Millionaire businessman John "Jay" Brooks, 55, of Las Vegas is scheduled to go to trial in August on charges of a murder-for-hire plot to kill Derry resident Jack Reid in June 2005. It will be followed in September with the trial of Michael Addison, 28, who is charged with the fatal shooting of Manchester police Officer Michael Briggs in October 2006. Letourneau said he agrees with Ayotte. He views the amendment as a way to make the bill a referendum on the legality of the death penalty. "All of the questions they want answered by the study committee are the same ones filed by attorneys representing Michael Addison," Letourneau said. "Do we really want to have that debate all summer while these trials are going on?" Rep. William Knowles, D-Dover, said even if the latest version of the bill passed, it would have no effect on the death penalty cases now pending in court. "It's the wrong time with the two capital murder trials in the works," said Knowles, chairman of the House's Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. "I told members of the Senate, if they couldn't pass the first part of the bill, then they should just kill it." Knowles said the amendment was proposed during an executive session of the committee. It has since passed the House. Letourneau said he will ask the Senate to find the bill inexpedient to legislate early next week. Some supporters described the bill as not an expansion of the death penalty, rather, a clarification of provisions already on the books. New Hampshire makes killing a police officer or judicial official punishable by death, but the law doesn't specifically mention bailiffs, court security officers and Family Court judges. The original bill also called for the same punishment against those who killed investigators working for either county attorneys or consumer protection investigators. Movsesian said she sees the bill as nothing short of an expansion of capital murder. Had she known the Senate might trump her call for a study, Movsesian said, she would have tried to kill the bill earlier. She expects she or other death penalty opponents to file a bill later this year requesting a similar study. Lawmakers sent another bill to a study committee earlier this year that would have expanded capital murder to include people convicted of killing two or more people at once. Since 1996, there have been 18 homicide cases involving multiple victims. Death penalty opponents are expected to file legislation in 2009, proposing to repeal capital punishment. They are prohibited from filing such a bill this year because a similar measure was defeated last year. House rules bar lawmakers from filing failed bills in consecutive sessions. New Hampshire's last execution was by hanging nearly 70 years ago.
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John Brooks Staff photo