Abramson: She was not amused
Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect two hundred dollars. That’s basically what Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge Gillian Abramson told disgraced former Manchester Police Officer Stephen Coco yesterday as she ruled on his release from jail by David Dionne, Superintendent of the Valley Street Jail. Central to Abramson’s ruling surprisingly, was the law, which our own retired police prosecutor Jim Gaudet explained to us yesterday in Public Safety This Week. In order for a superintendent to release a prisoner, it must be conducive to the person’s rehabilitation. Abramson put the lye to that rational in this case writing quote: “Defendant is not in need of rehabilitation. He requires no assistance with housing, therapy, substance abuse treatment, restoration to health, employment training or any other type of mainstreaming into society. Rather, this is a defendant who requires punishment and deterrence, goals of sentencing not served or met by release after just 7 2 days in jail. His conduct merits nothing less than the original sentence imposed. Under these facts and circumstances, participation in a day reporting program, without the need for rehabilitation, is the functional equivalent of release from custody…After review, the court finds and rules defendant’s release is inappropriate and defendant shall be returned to the Hillsborough County House of Corrections to serve the remainder of his sentence.” End quote.
Dionne: Playing fast and loose with the law?
That may not be the end of this case as questions have arisen not just over why Dionne released Coco, but also over the process by which he did it. The statute requires the court and the prosecutor shall be notified of under certain circumstances. Neither was notified prior to Coco’s release and, according to published news reports, Sullivan County Attorney Marc Hathaway, the prosecutor, was notified more than a week after the fact, at which time he objected, forcing the hearing under the law. While the statute doesn’t explicitly say notification must be given prior to release, critics of Dionne’s decision argue prior notification is clearly intended. We’ve uploaded Abramson’s opinion with this newscast at Girard at Lare dot com. If you have any doubt that there’s at least one judge who can cut through a slick lawyer’s B S, read this one. She simply dismantled every argument Coco’s attorney, Mark Howard, put forward. Not even Joe Kelly Levasseur could find a way to declare victory in this one.
News from our own backyard continues after this.
Cormier: Sen. Gordon Humphry approved
“Let’s move Jane up to the State Senate in District 16. She proved her mettle in the House, and now she’ll make a great Senator!” That’s what former U S Senator Gordon Humphrey, Republican from Chichester said in a statement released by Jane Cormier for State Seante. Humphrey called Cormier, “a hard-working legislator who brings the same level of enthusiasm to Concord that she brings to her operatic career and the stage.” Humphrey said Cormier, “believes in the principles of the Founders and in keeping government thrifty and accountable to the people.” Cormier, a former state rep., is locked in a primary battle with incumbent State Senator David Boutin, Republican of Hooksett, who has angered many conservatives with his votes in favor of the twenty three percent increase in the state’s gas tax and the expansion of the state’s Medicaid program to implement Obamacare. No Democrat declared a candidacy for the general election, so the winner of the primary will be the district’s senator in the new term.
Smith: Calls out Shaheen, Brown on hiking gas tax
Former U S Senator Bob Smith has launched a petition drive calling on Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Health Care Queen, and G O P rival former Bay State Senator Scott Brown, to renounce their support for an increase in the federal gas tax. Smith not only cites the June ninth Portsmouth Herald story reporting Shaheen’s support for hiking the tax, he quotes a September fifteen two thousand twelve story in the Sentinel & Enterprise of Fitchburg, Mass which reports that Brown said that he would be quote “open to discussion of a gas tax hike…” Smith said that’s not a discussion he’s open to saying Granite Staters can’t afford to pay more at the pump as he urged people to sign the petition to express their opposition. We’ve linked to it from this newscast at Girard at Large dot com.
Rubens: Releases jobs plan
Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, Jim Rubens released a six point plan to bring good-paying jobs back on American soil. “The recession has not yet ended for far too many Americans,” Rubens said. “Seven trillion dollars in new federal debt under the Shaheen/Obama debt-fueled “recovery” has fattened up Wall Street, but has left American families stuck between stagnant wages and the rising cost of living. One-in-eight adults are unemployed, underemployed, or have given up looking for work. The percentage of Americans working in the civilian labor force is at a 36 year low and continues to drop like a stone. Inflation-adjusted incomes for the typical household have dropped by six percent since Shaheen/Obama took their offices in January, 2009,” said Rubens. The plan advocates for reforming the tax code, reducing regulations, eliminating federal energy subsidies, reducing health care costs, stabilizing the dollar and building a border fence and opposing amnesty for illegals to preserve jobs for American citizens. We’ve linked to the plan from this newscast at Girard at Large dot com.
That’s news from our own backyard, Girard at Large hour ___ is straight ahead!
