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Welcome to the NEW Atkinson Reporter! Under new management, with new resolve.
The purpose of this Blog is to pick up where the Atkinson Reporter has left off. "The King is dead, Long live the King!" This Blog is a forum for the discussion of predominantly Atkinson; Officials, People, Ideas, and Events. You may give opinion, fact, or evaluation, but ad hominem personal attacks will not be tolerated, or published. The conversation begun on the Atkinson Reporter MUST be continued!
This Blog will not fall to outside hacks from anyone, especially insecure public officials afraid of their constituents criticism.
SALEM -- After repeated delays, former Atkinson police sergeant and D.A.R.E. officer Nathan Lyons will face trial this month on driving while intoxicated and other charges related to a crash in Newton in 2017.
Lyons, 37, of Plaistow, will stand trial April 17 on charges of DWI, conduct after an accident, and reckless conduct.
The case was originally set for trial in Salem Circuit Court last June, but it was postponed. It was eventually rescheduled for Jan. 23, but was delayed again after prosecutors informed the court that Emily Deguio, the alleged victim in the case, would be out of state and unavailable to testify.
Lyons, who resigned from the police department in the wake of the charges, has pleaded not guilty.
In addition to his role as a sergeant, Lyons taught the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program to local students.
The case is being prosecuted by the Strafford County Attorney’s office.
The DWI charge alleges that Lyons was driving an Acura TSX on North Main Street in Newton on Nov. 21, 2017, while “under the influence of intoxicating liquor and/or controlled drug, prescription drug, over-the-counter drug, or any other chemical substance, natural or synthetic, or any combination thereof, which impairs a person’s ability to drive.”
Newton police have said Lyons struck Deguio’s car, failed to stop, and continued driving until he hit a utility pole on North Main Street.
Police allege that he also drove his car recklessly on Amesbury Road by pulling in front of Deguio and attempting to have her crash into him by stopping short and not letting her pass by him.
Meanwhile, the New Hampshire Police Standards and Training Council sent a letter to the court last month requesting a copy of the final outcome of his case.
“Since Nathan J. Lyons is a certified officer with the state of New Hampshire, the matter of his arrest and/or conviction may involve action under state rules,” the letter said.
DERRY — A Hampstead police officer is suing the New Hampshire Attorney General, the town of Derry and the Derry Police Department because of the “badge of infamy” he says he bears due to his placement on the “Laurie List,” according to the court filing at the Rockingham County Court.
Also known as the Exculpatory Evidence Schedule or EES, the list of about 260 police officers with potential credibility issues is compiled by the Attorney General with information supplied by New Hampshire police departments.
Bryan Lamontagne, 27, is suing to take his name off the list.
His name was added to the list about nine months after he was accused, then cleared, of cheating on a police academy test. Derry’s Police Chief Edward B. Garone wrote the email that added him to the list in December 2017.
Since then, Lamontagne has been fighting to remove his name from the list because of its damage to his career. In the lawsuit, he is also accusing the police department and the Attorney General of not abiding by due process when placing him on the list.
“It’s a blacklist,” said Lamontagne's lawyer Timothy J. Goulden.
“It’s an affront to the American justice system that we have a 'Laurie List,'” he added.
In March 2018, Goulden sent letters to the Derry Police Department and the Attorney General’s office asking that Lamontagne's name be taken off the list.
After a year, Lamontagne's name was still on the list, and February Goulden filed the lawsuit.
“The Attorney General’s office maintains the list and can remove names,” Goulden explained. “But ultimately it is the police chief from any town who puts an officer on the list.”
When asked about Lamontagne, Derry Town Administrator David Caron said the town has yet to be served the complaint, and could not comment on the case until it is served. Lamontagne has until April 6 to serve the town and the Attorney General’s office with the complaint.
The Attorney General compiles the Exculpatory Evidence Schedule as a list of current and former police officers who may have credibility problems in court. Officers on the list have been connected to a variety of actions, including falsifying records or evidence, perjury, use of excessive force or other acts deemed egregious abuses of power. Prosecutors must disclose this type of information to a defense attorney when an officer is called to testify.
“It is important to recognize that inclusion on the EES does not mean that an officer is necessarily untrustworthy or dishonest — and in many cases the designation on the EES will make clear there is no question of dishonesty," the Attorney General’s office describes in a memo to law enforcement officials dated March 21, 2017.
However, Goulden contends that the list has not lived up to its intentions.
“Prosecutors aren’t doing the work to check out their witnesses. It was designed to be a shortcut and it hasn’t been administered correctly,” Goulden said. “And when it’s not, it becomes a costly process to get your name removed.”
Senior Assistant Attorney General Geoffrey Ward, reiterated that the list is a tool for prosecutors meeting their Constitutional obligation.
“The point of all of this is meeting our Constitutional obligation to defendants,” Ward said.
Working in the criminal division, Ward could not comment on the case with Lamontagne, which will be handled through the civil division, he said.
Lamontagne’s dismissal
According to court documents, Lamontagne was questioned on March 17, 2017, by a staffer from the police academy about a study guide he was given by a roommate that contained information about test questions.
“Lamontagne truthfully answered questions about the ‘study guide’ and reported the incident to Lt. Michaud at the Derry Police Department,” documents said. After disclosing what happened, he was subsequently dismissed, along with six other recruits, from the academy on March 21, 2017, and his employment with the Derry Police Department was terminated.
Lamontagne and his fellow classmates appealed their dismissals.
“All recruits were reinstated after the hearing,” court documents said. “The allegations of cheating were withdrawn, and the only substantiated allegation was possession of the unauthorized ‘study guide.’ The academy allowed Lamontagne to return to the police academy if he was a police officer. Chief Garone allowed Lamontagne to resign from the department and rescind the termination.”
On March 29, 2017, Lamontagne resigned from the Derry Police Department. In his settlement with the Police Standards and Training Council he was allowed to return apply for entry to the academy and would have to complete it again.
The following October he was hired by the Hampstead Police Department. During his background check there was no sign he was on the Exculpatory Evidence Schedule.
That’s because his name wasn’t added until Dec. 26, 2017 when Garone wrote a letter to the Attorney General, adding Lamontagne’s name to the list.
Citing Lamontagne’s dismissal from the academy, “the Derry Police did seek council from Patricia Conway, Rockingham County Attorney. RCA Conway in turn consulted with Senior Assistant Attorney General Lisa Woolford. We’ve received notice that both had concluded that Mr. Lamontagne’s name should be on the ‘EES’ list,” Garone wrote.
Lamontagne and the Hampstead Police Department were notified of Lamontagne’s placement on the list on Jan. 5, 2018. Since then he has been working to get his name off of the list.
The list’s history
This list got its nickname the “Laurie List” because of a 1995 New Hampshire case, State v. Laurie, which strengthened the rights of defendants in criminal cases. The precedent for the prosecution disclosing this type of information dates back to the 1963 U.S. Supreme Court case Brady v. Maryland. It makes clear that prosecutors are constitutionally mandated to disclose a police officer's discipline to criminal defendants if it is considered exculpatory evidence – meaning that is favorable to the defendant – who could use it to impeach an officer’s testimony.
Currently there is lawsuit by the New Hampshire chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and six New Hampshire news outlets to make the entire list public. Right now, the officers' names and the dates of the alleged incidents are blacked out on the public version of the document, which shows the names of the police departments and the types of infractions officers are associated with.
The lawsuit may become unnecessary if a bill submitted by state Rep. Paul Berch, D-Westmoreland, becomes law.
The House Judiciary Committee passed House Bill 155 out of committee unanimously with a bipartisan support. The bill seeks to make the Exculpatory Evidence Schedule a public document in its entirety. The House then passed the bill, and it is currently in committee in the Senate.
