By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office is dropping one of the cases against convicted sexual abuser James Woodlock as questions mount about his ability to stand trial.
A former staffer at the Sununu Youth Services Center, Woodlock, 62, started serving a 20 to 40 year prison sentence in December after a jury found him guilty of being an accomplice to the rape of a teen, which occurred in the late 1990s. He was scheduled to go to trial next month on another indictment accusing him of abusing a different YDC victim.
However, prosecutors on Monday announced in Hillsborough Superior Court — North in Manchester that they were dropping that indictment. That surprise announcement came during a hearing over defense attorney Richard Guerriero’s push to have Woodlock evaluated by medical professionals.
Guerriero has filed motions stating Woodlock may not be competent to stand trial and needs to be examined. Woodlock has been held inside solitary confinement since he reported to prison in December, and the attorney says his mental and physical condition is deteriorating due to those extreme detention conditions.
“Mr. Woodlock has been in solitary confinement at the prison since his arrival. He is in the Special Housing Unit (SHU). Mr. Woodlock reports that he is locked alone in a cell twenty-three hours a day. He is let out of his cell for one hour a day during which he is allowed to go into a somewhat larger day room that has a shower. He is still alone when he is in the day room. He reports that he spends nearly the entirety of every day without contact with any other human being,” Guerriero wrote in a motion filed last week.
The result on Woodlock from this confinement has been signs of depression, anxiety, delusional paranoia, rapid weight loss, and physical shaking, according to Guerriero’s motion.
Department of Corrections staff told Guerriero Woodlock’s extreme confinement is being done for his own safety, but the lawyer has said that is not a valid reason for the punishing lock up.
“Locking someone in solitary confinement, not because of any misconduct, but supposedly for their protection, is nothing short of cruel. The court’s sentence and the notoriety of Mr. Woodlock’s alleged crimes do not justify such treatment,” Guerriero wrote.
While the state is objecting to any competency evaluation, dropping the charge before next month’s trial is a curious choice. The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.
Woodlock isn’t done with the allegations of abuse. He is still scheduled for a fall trial on multiple counts of asexual assault involving yet another alleged YDC victim.
Judge Will Delker did not issue a ruling, but instead took the arguments on the competency motion under advisement on Monday.