Post by exfed2002 on Dec 18, 2008 14:53:14 GMT -5
Jury has decided fate of city police officer's killer
By STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
1 minute ago
Manchester – Michael Addison, the convicted capital murderer who shot Manchester Police Officer Michael Briggs dead in 2006 has been sentenced to death.
The Hillsborough County jury announced they had made a decision at about 9:30 a.m. this morning after 13 hours of deliberations over four days. The sentence was pronounced about an hour later.
There was palpable tension in the courtroom as the members of the jury slowly walked in and took their seats. The foreman was asked if the jury had a verdict. He stood and said yes. Asked what it was, he leaned into the microphone and spoke one word: "Death."
At that, there was a hushed gasp from the members of the public who had gathered to witness the verdict. Addison showed no visible reaction of any kind. He stood entirely motionless -- not even a blink or a flinch. He continued looking blankly toward the jury as each member stood and verified that he or she supported the verdict.
The judge must formally impose the sentence, but cannot change it.
In sentencing Addison to death, the jury of six men and six women rejected sending him to life in prison without chance of parole.
New Hampshire hasn't executed anyone since 1939 and hasn't sentenced anyone to death since 1959.
Jurors unanimously agreed that Addison deserves to die for purposely shooting Officer Michael Briggs to avoid being arrested.
At 10:49 a.m., Manchester Police Chief David Mara issued a broadcast over the Manchester police frequency informing officers who hadn't heard that the jury had issued a verdict of death in the case of Michael Addison. He thanked officers for their support of the Briggs family and ended, "I'm very proud of you. The city is very proud of you. Thank you very much."
Lt. Peter Bartlett, the president of the Manchester Association of Police Officers, commented after the verdict to UnionLeader.com reporter Pat Grossmith. Bartlett said: "I think this is a just verdict. It certainly has been a long road for the Briggs family and for the men and women of the Manchester Police Department. We have been waiting a long time for this righteous verdict. We appreciate the service of the jury."
Bartlett had brutally harsh words for the killer. "Ultimately, we all feel as they did that Michael Addison is a monster and he deserves the death penalty."
Officer John Breckinridge, who together with Officer Nathan Linstad were partners of Briggs, said the capital murder conviction meant more to him than today's verdict because "it validates Mike to me."
Still, he hoped the jury's verdict provides some "comfort and closure" for Briggs' family.
"Today's a good day," said Breckinridge, who witnessed his partner's murder. "I think some good decisions were made and that's about it."
Addison's lawyers had argued that his abusive childhood and possible brain damage from his mother's heavy drinking while she was pregnant warranted a sentence of life in prison without parole.
Addison had been on a crime spree the week before the shooting and had said he would "pop a cop" if necessary to avoid arrest.
Briggs, 35, and his bicycle patrol partner came across Addison and friend Antoine Bell-Rogers walking in an alley early on Oct. 16, 2006. Briggs recognized the men as a suspects in a recent shooting and two armed robberies and ordered them to stop. Addison turned and shot Briggs in the head at close range, testimony showed.
Briggs, a decorated patrolman, Concord father of two and former Marine, died the next day.
The defense admitted on the first day of the trial that Addison killed Briggs, but said the act was reckless, not intentional.
"It was fast and it was totally unplanned," defense attorney David Rothstein said in his opening statement. "It was a reckless act that ended in a terrible tragedy."
Prosecutors called the shooting cold-blooded and premeditated, pointing to Addison's threat to "pop a cop."
"That fatal shot was no accident. It was no reckless misjudgment or panic-driven mistake," Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said in her opening statement. "That shot was another choice in a series of choices made by the defendant. It was a conscious and deadly choice to pull the trigger and end Officer Briggs' life."
The trial was in three phases: the jury first convicted Addison of capital murder and then concluded he was eligible for the death penalty. In that verdict, the jury ruled that Addison purposely inflicted the injury that killed Briggs, but rejected the state's claim that he purposely killed Briggs.
The defense cited that conclusion during the trial's final, sentencing phase as grounds for sparing Addison's life.
The defense also pointed to Addison's absentee parents and rocky childhood as grounds for mercy. His mother, Cheryl Kiser, drank heavily, used drugs, and was known for violent outbursts, while his father, Michael Wilson, smoked crack throughout Addison's childhood and was rarely there for his son.
"None of this information is offered as an excuse or as a justification for anything that Michael did," said defense attorney Richard Guerriero. "He is responsible for the choices he made as an adult, but you also have to recognize he could not control the choices that were made for him as a child."
The prosecution emphasized the emotional toll Briggs' murder took on his wife, two young sons and other family members and friends, and pointed to Addison's long criminal record.
That record included pointing a loaded revolver at another student's head in high school and pulling the trigger twice. The gun didn't fire.
Ayotte said Addison faces decades in prison for other convictions, so sentencing him to life would amount to a free pass for Briggs' murder.
"The flaws in his childhood simply cannot replace the pain and suffering that he has inflicted on innocent victims throughout adult life," she argued. "There are millions (and) millions of people in this country who unfortunately come from far, far worse backgrounds than the defendant and they don't go out and harm and murder people. That was his choice. ... It's shameful the defendant is using his deceased mother as an excuse for the repeated devastation that he has caused and his own choices he made as an adult."
The decision today concludes the capital murder trial that opened for jury selection Sept. 22. It was followed by nearly two months of testimony during the guilty and sentencing phases of the trial, which concluded Dec. 10.
The state Supreme Court will automatically review the conviction and sentence within 60 days of receiving the trial court's certified record. That review would take priority over all other cases.
If the court upholds both, an appeal by the defense is virtually certain, likely raising constitutional claims rejected by Judge Kathleen McGuire. Among them is that Addison couldn't get a fair trial in Manchester, and that requiring judges to impose a death sentence decided by a jury is unconstitutional.
Legal experts note that New Hampshire's death penalty law, unlike laws in states such as Texas, has not been tested extensively in court. Law professor Albert Scherr said that process could take several years, and federal challenges could follow if state courts uphold the law and conviction.
The last person put to death was Alton shopkeeper Howard Long . Long was hanged in 1939 for the sexual molestation and murder of a 10-year-old Laconic boy. He was the 12th man the state hanged for murder at the state prison in its 206-year history.
In 2004, a federal judge in Massachusetts, which has no death penalty, ordered convicted killer Gary Sampson executed in New Hampshire, but Sampson is appealing.
In October, a jury in Brentwood handed down the state's first capital murder conviction since 1959 in the murder-for-hire case of millionaire John Brooks. But the jury gave Brooks life without parole, the only alternative to the death penalty in the capital murder statute.
This story was written by the Associated Press and New Hampshire Union Leader reporter Kathryn Marchocki, with contributions from UnionLeader.com reporter Pat Grossmith and editorial page editor Drew Cline. Look for extensive coverage tomorrow on UnionLeader.com and in the New Hampshire Union Leader.
