   
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.”
Click here to
view a message from the Rockingham County Attorney and
the Chiefs of Police.
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 9th, 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. |