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WELCOME........TO THE

ROCKINGHAM COUNTY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE

“The mission of the Rockingham County Attorney’s Office is to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Rockingham County by providing justice professionally, effectively and efficiently.”

Paid for by fines imposed on establishments that have over-served their patrons.

Rockingham County Attorney, Jim Reams, was elected in 1998 to head the office where he began his legal career over twenty years ago.  The County Attorney and his Deputy oversee a staff of 37 in the Superior Court office.  Attorney Reams has re-organized the Rockingham County Attorney's staff of 17 Assistant County Attorneys into 3 litigation teams covering all of the geographical regions of the county.

The County Attorney is responsible for prosecuting most Felonies and all Misdemeanor Appeals that occur in Rockingham County. While the County Attorney is a constitutional officer, the Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer for the State of New Hampshire. The County Attorney is, in the absence of the Attorney General, the chief law enforcement officer in the county.  He has the responsibility for and exercises general supervisory control over the enforcement and prosecution of the criminal laws of the State.  In Rockingham County, the County Attorney prosecutes for 37 Police Departments, the Sheriff's Department, the New Hampshire State Police and various State agencies.

The County Attorney continues to be proactive in providing assistance to police departments during the earliest stages of a case.  Prosecutors are available to answer questions from law enforcement regarding investigations and charging decisions 24 hours a day.   All prosecutors are periodically scheduled to be "on call" or otherwise known as the "Duty" Prosecutor at nights and on weekends. The "Duty" prosecutors answer an average of 300 calls per year.   Prosecutors are "exempt" employees who do not receive overtime or other consideration for this added duty.  The prosecutors recognize that this is an important function that results in better investigations, better prosecutions, and protection of the rights of the citizens of Rockingham County.

The year 2009 was another challenging one for the County Attorney’s Office.  We investigated, prosecuted and obtained convictions in some very significant and statewide precedent-setting cases. 

             State vs. Schillaci

            Our office prosecuted Jon Savarino Schillaci, one of the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives.  In October of 1999, Schillaci was investigated by the Deerfield Police Department for possession of Child Pornography and Felonious Sexual Assault on a young boy with whom Schillaci resided with.  Shortly thereafter, Schillaci fled New Hampshire and eluded police for almost 10 years until his capture and extradition from Mexico in June of 2008.   

Jon Savarino Schillaci was convicted and sentenced to 20 to 50 years at the NH State Prison.

State vs. Marshall

 In March 2009, Jeffrey Marshall was convicted of Dispensing Controlled Drugs-Death Resulting for the 2007 drug overdose death of Anthony Fosher and the theft of money from Fosher as he lay dying.  This conviction is the 3rd Drug Dispensing-Death Resulting case in Rockingham County and hopefully it sends a message to drug dealers that we will not tolerate peddling drugs in this County. 

As a result of this conviction, Jeffrey Marshall received a sentence of 10 years to life at the NH State Prison.   

 State vs. Sanders

 Clarence Sanders was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to 5 to 10 years at the NH State Prison for the First Degree Assault on a 20 year old victim followed by 20 years to life for the Attempted Murder of the victim’s mother by slitting her throat.  Sanders attacked the woman and her son in Raymond in May of 2006 and fled the state.  He was arrested a few days later in West Virginia and was later extradited to NH to stand trial.  This case was a difficult prosecution because the defendant filed numerous claims of incompetency in order to avoid extradition.

 State vs. Mentus

 On October 9^th, 2009 Adam Mentus was found guilty by a jury for fatally shooting a 21 year old victim by mishandling a loaded firearm.  Mentus was sentenced to 10 to 20 years at the NH State Prison for Manslaughter.  This verdict points out the fact that firearms are not toys and must be handled with care.

 State vs. Margaritas (Exeter Restaurant Group, Inc.)

 Margaritas was the first of several restaurant entities found guilty for over-serving their patrons.  In October of 2009, Margaritas plead guilty to one misdemeanor charge of Prohibited Sales stemming from a 2008 drunk driving accident caused by an over served patron.  As part of the plea agreement, a $4,000 fine was imposed along with a three-day liquor license suspension held in abeyance for a one year, pending no like infractions.

 State vs. Fat Belly’s (Joe’s NY Bar & Grill, LLC.)

            In June of 2009, Fat Belly’s was convicted of misdemeanor Prohibited Sales following an over-serving incident that led to a vehicle versus pedestrian accident in Portsmouth.  The bar and grill was fined $8,000 and ordered to pay a penalty assessment of $1,600.  In December of 2009, the County Attorney’s Office presented Portsmouth Police and the NH Liquor Enforcement Bureau with checks for $4000 each to be used toward the prevention of other such incidents.  The two departments are currently using the money to combat over-serving and drunk driving.

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DISTRICT COURT

While the County Attorney is responsible for criminal prosecution in his County, police departments have traditionally prosecuted their own cases at the District Court level in New Hampshire.  The County Attorney's Office provides assistance to departments when requested and occasionally for short periods when departments have been without personnel.  The County Attorney has assumed complete responsibility for District Court prosecution under circumstances where the individual department or municipality reimburses the county for the associated cost of providing that service.  This is done because the County Attorney does not provide district court prosecutors for all towns in Rockingham County.  The Plaistow District Court prosecutor position was filled in 2003 with 6 towns having entered the contract.  The County Attorney also provides prosecution for certain towns in the Candia District Court area including Nottingham and Candia.  In 2007, the Exeter District Court prosecutor position was filled with 2 towns having entered the contract, Exeter and Fremont.

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VICTIM/WITNESS COORDINATORS

The County Attorney's Office has three full-time Victim/Witness Coordinators.  The Coordinators work primarily on victims of felonious crimes.  They provide information and assistance to people affected by crimes with compassion and professionalism.  Coordinators guide victims through the criminal justice process and work to ensure that the victim's rights are protected in accordance with RSA 21-m:8. Each of the Victim/Witness Coordinators averaged over 485 telephone conferences and more than 66 office conferences with victims of crimes each month.

One of the three Coordinators continues to be grant funded through the Violence Against Women Act.  This grant limits the types of cases that this Coordinator may work on.  The County has been fortunate that the federal funds still pay the majority of this employee's salary.  It is important to maintain the level of services demanded by the Victim Bill of Rights.  With the increasing caseload, it will be necessary to add an additional full-time Coordinator in the near future.

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INVESTIGATORS

The investigators reviewed approximately 385 cases during 2009.  They review all cases involving victims.  Additionally, they reviewed and validated almost 300 cases pending in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), which is used by law enforcement to locate defendants evading justice.  Other duties of the investigators include but are not limited to assisting law enforcement agencies in follow-up investigations, locating missing witnesses and conducting some interviews.  In addition, the investigators handled 13 complaints against individual Police Departments, performed background checks for prospective employees and also fielded 32 walk-in contacts during 2009.

The entire staff of the Rockingham County Attorney’s Office are dedicated and compassionate professionals who are committed to the mission of this office.  They have and will continue to do what it takes to get the job done.  The citizens of this County can be assured that the staff of this office serves them well.  The office would also like to thank the Commissioners, as well as the entire delegation for their support in rebuilding the Rockingham County Attorney’s Office.