NASHUA — Eric Largy’s lawyer argued Thursday that the re
Eric Largy
cently re-filed criminal charges alleging he beat his father – retired Nashua Police Chief Clifton Largy – seven years ago should be dismissed.
Public Defender Michael Davidow said they should be dropped because the state didn’t file a petition to reopen the issue of Eric Largy’s competency to stand trial in connection with the April 22, 2009 incident.
Davidow also discussed the possible outcomes should a criminal trial move ahead. Davidow and Judge Charles Temple both questioned what would be gained by starting the process all over again.
“We’d be right back where we started,” Davidow said.
Largy, 49, was diagnosed with delusional disorder, which was the sole basis for him being deemed incompetent to stand trial, Davidow said. Largy was involuntarily committed to five years at the Secure Psychiatric Unit in Concord after spending a year and a half awaiting trial in Valley Street Jail.
In Hillsborough County Superior Court South, Davidow also said the state would have to have a reasonable basis to believe there had been a change in Largy’s competency.
And Davidow stated that Judge Temple has it in his discretion to dismiss the charges, which include one count of kidnapping and two counts of first-degree assault.
Clifton Largy suffered broken eye sockets, facial bones and a broken jaw and has insisted he was lured to his son’s home in Nashua and attacked from behind that day. Prosecutors previously told the court that the senior Largy was retrained to an antique barber’s chair and tortured by Eric.
Eric Largy told authorities that it was a matter of self-defense, that his father had been abusive most of his life and that he got what he deserved, according to published reports at the time.
Davidow didn’t buy Assistant Hillsborough County Attorney Michele Battaglia’s motion that Largy seemed competent because he opened his confidential civil proceedings to InDepthNH.org and because he wanted to protect his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
The state shouldn’t lose sight of the majority of psychiatric opinions that state Largy still suffers from delusional disorder, he said. Largy was transferred to the New Hampshire Hospital, the state’s psychiatric hospital, in late April and was expected to be discharged by July 14 when the criminal charges were reinstated.
One goal of a guilty verdict would be punishment, Davidow said. “He’s already served over seven years – first at Valley Street Jail, then five years at the Secure Psychiatric Unit,” Davidow said.
Being locked up at the Secure Psychiatric Unit is no different from being in prison, he said.
“The patients are either locked in their rooms or have access to small hallways and are guarded at all times. (Eric) has suffered the same as any sentenced criminal,” Davidow said.
“Mr. Largy has indeed been punished for the past seven years. There is no practical benefit to allowing the state to proceed,” Davidow said.
There is also the fundamental issue of fairness, he said.
“Criminal prosecution places Mr. Largy in a Kafkaesque situation,” Davidow said.
The court should not allow the state to minimize the seriousness of Largy’s mental illness in its attempt to keep him locked up, Davidow said.
Judge Temple asked: “Are we just reinstituting this case to cycle through it all over again and end up in the exact spot we’re in now?”
After ordering a competency evaluation, the court could decide on restorability, the criminal charges could get dismissed and Largy could be back in Probate Court for involuntary civil commitment proceedings.
All of that to end up back in the same position another seven years down the road, Temple said.
Davidow agreed with the judge: “You can beat a dead horse all you want, but it doesn’t do the horse much good. We are just spinning our wheels.”
Battaglia said she has checked with the Attorney General’s Office and believes she is on solid legal grounds by bringing the indictments.
If the court were to dismiss the charges against Largy, Battaglia said she would again speak with the Attorney General’s Office about the issue.
“I think the state is allowed to proceed this way .. At this juncture in this case, the state is on solid legal footing according to the way the statute is written,” Battaglia said.
Judge Temple rewrote Largy’s bail order so that it is $100,000 personal recognizance as long as he is at the New Hampshire Hospital, but if he is discharged, it would become $100,000 cash bail.
A civil hearing is scheduled for Largy on July 26. Judge Temple took the matter under advisement and said he expected to issue an order before the next hearing.