By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
A prosecutorial blunder found at the 11th hour is throwing one of the Sununu Youth Services Center, formerly called YDC, sex abuse cases into disarray.
Jurors were scheduled to be picked Monday in James Woodlock’s criminal trial on felony sexual abuse charges stemming from his time as a YDC staffer, but now it’s not clear when he will go to trial. That’s because one of the indicted charges handed up by a 2021 grand jury is not based on any of the facts presented by prosecutors.
Hillsborough County Superior Court — North Judge Will Delker ruled Friday during an emergency hearing to push back the start of Woodlock’s trial on charges he was an accessory to the sexual abuse of children inside YDC. The hearing took place hours after Woodlock’s attorney, Richard Guerriero, filed a motion to have the whole case dismissed. Guerriero confirmed on Thursday that one of the indicted counts isn’t based on any facts.
“There is also no reasonable and lawful explanation of how the grand jury returned the indictment when there was no evidence of the specific crime alleged in the now-dismissed indictment,” Guerriero wrote. “This calls into question the entirety of the grand jury proceedings which resulted in the pending 2021 indictments.”
Assistant Attorney General Audriana Mekula moved to drop one of the five charges against Woodlock earlier this month. Guerriero pushed to discover why, and learned during a Thursday deposition with New Hampshire State Police Sergeant Kelly LaPointe the grand jury handed up a charge based on an incident that did not happen.
“I mean, the indictments are based – should have been based on the case, the arrest warrant. I did not see the indictments prior. I don’t even believe I was present during the reading of them. They get read to the grand jury while I’m out of the room. So I think it’s just a mistake,” LaPointe said during last week’s deposition.
Guerriero filed a motion on Friday to dismiss all of the charges handed up by the 2021 grand jury since its actions are now questionable. Guerriero’s motion prompted Delker to call for an immediate hearing held via Webex, the online video calling system used by the courts.
InDepthNH.org has been unable to get an audio recording of the Friday hearing, and has been told by the company that provides the service for the court that the hearing was sealed. However, no motion to seal the hearing can be found on file.
Spokesmen for the court and the attorney general say the hearing wasn’t sealed.
Mekula argued in her written objection that the trial on the remaining charges should go forward, since there’s no proof the grand jury acted improperly. The indictment, which Mekula moved to drop, isn’t evidence of wrongdoing, she wrote.
“The State objects to the motion in its entirety because the defendant has not established that there is any evidence of irregularity,” Mekula wrote. “The defendant here cannot overcome the presumption of regularity afforded to the July 2021 grand jury because he has not alleged any specific evidence of an irregularity, nor has he established that he is prejudiced by any alleged irregularity.”
According to the public records that are available, Delker refused to throw out the whole case, but agreed to push back the start of the trial. Both sides will meet again on June 10 to discuss a possible new trial date.
It is not clear what the state plans to do to correct the now questionable work of the 2021 grand jury. Michael Garrity, spokesman for the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, repeatedly declined to address the phantom indictment, or even the reason for the last minute delay of the trial.
“Our prosecution is moving forward. The continuance is the result of careful consideration in light of the discussion at the court hearing on Friday and after thoughtful input from the victims,” Garrity said.