2007 STATISTICS

Ø      TRIAL PREPARATION--Prepared over 1,200 cases for trial in 2007. The Superior Court requires us to certify that we have all witnesses under subpoena. Failure to do so risks dismissal of the case.  Since we do not control which cases actually go to trial, we issue subpoenas in almost all of these cases.  Each case averages at least 3 witnesses meaning that we prepare and issue over 3,600 subpoenas annually.  We can not get a case continued due to the unavailability of witnesses unless they have been served in hand; thus we have to monitor to make sure that all witnesses have actually received the subpoenas.  We then have to cancel the witness when the case either gets re-scheduled or a plea of guilty is entered.

Ø      GRAND JURY PRESENTATIONS--Prepared 2,924 Grand Jury Indictments for presentation. In addition to the subpoenas, there is an average of 3 to 4 hours to review each file, draft the Indictments and otherwise prepare the case for presentation.  This amounts to an estimated 7,962 to 10,616 "man hours" for the Grand Jury.

Ø      INFORMATION'S FILED--We drafted 618 Information's (Misdemeanors filed in the Superior Court) during the course of 2007. In addition, we handled 75 Misdemeanor Appeals from the various District Courts.

Ø      RE-OPENED FILES--445 cases were re-opened in the Superior Court because the Defendant had been found in another state or violated the terms of his probation. This means the drafting of new legal documents and other preparation in order to make the presentation to the Court.

Ø      REVIEW FILES--We reviewed 158 cases for police departments that did not result in charges being filed in the Superior Court. This is in addition to the many cases that we review with the departments in advance of the file being formally sent to the office with charges being filed. 

Ø      DUTY CALLS-- In 2007, it appears that we will have taken approximately 388 duty calls.  The Attorneys are required to take turns being "on duty" for a week at a time to answer law enforcement questions at night. The attorneys then will fill out a duty call report about the call, their advice or any decisions. 

Ø      EXTRADITIONS-- In 2007, we processed 27 IAD's, 8 Governors Warrants and approximately 245 Waivers of Extradition. When missing Defendants that have committed crimes or violated probation are apprehended, we  return them to New Hampshire.  There are three manners that this is done, Governors Warrant process, Waiver of a Governors Warrants or the Inter-State Agreement on Detainers (IAD's).  Each requires a review of the file prior to processing and may entail legal document preparation.

Ø      TRAINING--We are requested to present trainings for a number of police departments during the course of a year.  This entails the research or updating of the topic, preparation of teaching materials and actual teaching time.

Ø      RECEPTION--In 2007, our office handled over 34,000 phone calls through our reception area.  A large fraction of the phone calls we receive range from witnesses calling in regarding upcoming trials, victim's calling to speak with the advocate assigned to their case, the press calling regarding a high profile case to police departments calling for answers to legal questions.

Ø      As everyone becomes busier in the system, they seek to reduce their caseload, the Attorney General's office has pushed some of the defense of Writs of Habeas Corpus onto the County Attorneys. These are post-conviction Motions, typically filed by incarcerated Defendants after their appeal to the NH Supreme Court has failed.  This can require, among other things, attendance at hearings in the location where the defendant is incarcerate, Concord or Berlin.

Ø      Additionally, the Attorney General has decided that each County Attorney has to litigate the new civil commitment of dangerous sexual offenders under the new statute.  This statute, in addition to costing the counties a lot in expert witness fees, also will involve complex issues of law and medicine.  The commitment of time and energy is unknown, but assumed to be huge.  In 2007, our office reviewed approximately 54 Sexually Violent Predator Notifications from the NH Department of Corrections.

Ø      The Attorney General also wants the County Attorneys to do other civil commitments in the probate court when the statute names the Attorney General as representing the state.