Nov 17, 2008 7:11 pm US/Eastern
NH Jury Says Addison Eligible For Death Penalty
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) ―
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Michael Addision in court on Monday.
WBZ
The jury in the Michael Addison case decided Monday that he is eligible to be sentenced to death for killing Manchester Police Officer Michael Briggs in 2006.
The Hillsborough County Superior Court jury will reconvene Thursday for judicial instructions, then Friday to start hearing testimony to help it decide whether to actually sentence Addison to die or to spend the rest of his life in prison. New Hampshire has not executed anyone since 1939.
Monday's decision was expected, and attention is focused on the penalty phase ahead. Nonetheless, there was a round of hugs and thank-yous for prosecutors, as there had been when the jury convicted Addison, 28, of capital murder on Thursday.
Addison's lawyers have admitted Addison shot Briggs, but said he acted recklessly, not with intent. The jury mostly rejected that claim on Monday.
In order to find Addison eligible, the state had to have proven at least one of the following:
-- That Addison purposely killed Briggs.
-- That he purposely inflicted serious bodily injury on Briggs.
-- That he purposely engaged in conduct to create "grave risk" of death to Briggs.
The jury rejected the first statement, but agreed with the other two.
It also agreed, as it had to, that prosecutors had proved that Addison shot Briggs to escape arrest.
In the penalty phase, expected to last three weeks, Judge Kathleen McGuire has ruled that Addison will be allowed to make a statement in court. Prosecutors expect him to express remorse and have asked McGuire to take steps to ensure that he doesn't try to recast facts established in testimony.
Laura Briggs, widow of Michael Briggs, is expected to testify in the penalty phase.
The defense on Monday filed a motion seeking to limit the state's victim witness list to Briggs' immediate family. According to the motion, prosecutors anticipate testimony about Briggs as a child, his prior employment as a correctional officer, his prior contact with Addison and his opinions on crimes allegedly committed by Addison the week before he died. The defense argues the testimony is prejudicial.
In arguments before Monday's verdict, defense attorney David Rothstein said Addison, a Manchester resident, did not act purposely.
"Michael Addison did not have the purpose to kill Officer Briggs, or to cause him such injury as to result in his death or the purpose to put him at grave risk of death," Rothstein said. "He had no purpose. He had no plan. He had no conscious object to cause death."
"I want you to think about the difference between being aware that death would result from your actions and specifically wanting death to result," he said.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Will Delker countered that Addison's eligibility for the death penalty "flows logically" from his conviction.
"To try and explain how his conduct could be `knowing' without `purposely' would require mental gymnastics that simply defy common sense," Delker said.
Rothstein said Addison's actions following the shooting do not demonstrate that he planned to kill Briggs.
"It's pathetic and it's cowardly and it excuses absolutely nothing here, but it does not demonstrate he had a plan or acted purposely when he shot Officer Briggs," Rothstein said.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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