FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 18th, 2019
CONTACT: Joe Sweeney
Joe@NHGOP.org
603-225-9341
Concord, NH – NHGOP Chairman Stephen Stepanek released the following statement after New Hampshire Executive Councilors unnecessarily injected politics, once again, into the administration of justice in the Granite State by voting against the appointment of Dave Mara, Esquire to be an Assistant Attorney General in order to oversee the incompetent Hillsborough County Attorney’s office:
“The failures of the Hillsborough County Attorney’s office are deeply troubling and should not be viewed through a partisan lens. Democrats on the Executive Council are endorsing the gross level of incompetence in the Hillsborough County Attorney’s Office. Our elected officials must act decisively to ensure that justice is administered in the Granite State – and that’s just what the Governor and the New Hampshire Attorney Generals’ office sought to accomplish through the appointment of Dave Mara, the former Police Chief of Manchester and New Hampshire’s Drug Czar, as an Assistant Attorney General. As the failures of the Hillsborough County Attorney’s office continue to put lives at stake and our most vulnerable population at risk, Democrats on the Executive Council – led by gubernatorial-wannabe Andru Volinsky – have opted to play politics and side with their fellow Democrat, who currently serves as the Hillsborough County Attorney. Further, Councilor Michael Cryans showcased absolute cowardice in abstaining from the vote while Hillsborough County needs new leadership. Voters in Districts 1, 2, and 5 need to assess what type of representation they are getting on the Executive Council.”
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Background:
NHPR:
“Deputy Attorney General Jane Young said that her office began reviewing the county attorney’s office over a year ago, when the office was under the direction of Dennis Hogan. They found issues with understaffing, poor leadership, and lack of organizational structure, office policies, and training, she said.”
https://www.nhpr.org/post/ags-office-defends-takeover-hillsborough-county-attorneys-office
Union Leader:
“Young said the Attorney General’s office began a review of the office in August 2018 after concerns were raised by law enforcement personnel, when former county attorney Dennis Hogan was still in office. That review ended in March 2019, Young said, after Conlon was elected.”
“Those cases included light sentences against a couple accused of dealing narcotics following the death of 20-month-old Tayden Garvey, who ingested cocaine last year inside a Manchester apartment. The father of the child, Joshua Garvey, of Manchester, pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and received a 44-month sentence.”
“Police also pointed to the death of Jennifer Burpee of Manchester, a domestic violence victim. Damien Seace of Manchester was charged in connection with her death earlier this year. According to the AG, Conlon’s office had an indictment against Seace on accusations he strangled Burpee in 2018, but all the charges — including a criminal threatening-terrorize charge, in which Seace is alleged to have told Burpee he was going to murder and bury her — were dropped in February. Burpee was killed in mid-July and Seace was arrested and charged with murder.”
“A third case involves part-time Franklin police officer and prosecutor Christopher Ahern of Epsom, who was arrested and charged with stalking a former intimate partner in Concord as well as trespassing and receiving stolen property. Due to a potential conflict of interest, the case was tried in Hillsborough County instead of Merrimack County. The charges were dropped in February.”
New Hampshire Republican State Committee
10 Water Street, Concord, NH 03301
United States