Michael Addison – black, age 26
Sentenced in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire
By: a jury
Date of crime: October 16, 2006
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Addison fatally shot Manchester police officer Michael Briggs (age 35). The prosecution argued the shooting was in cold-blood and premeditated. The defense admitted that Addison killed Briggs. However, they sought a life sentence by arguing that Addison acted recklessly and suffered from an abusive childhood and possible brain damage from his mother’s heavy drinking while she was pregnant. This is New Hampshire’s first death sentence in 79 years. The last time a New Hampshire court imposed a death sentence was in 1959, but the two condemned men were spared by a 1972 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Prosecutor(s): Kelly Ayotte, Will Delker
Defense lawyer(s): Richard Guerriero, David Rothstein
Sources: AP DataStream 12/22/08 – 20:19:25; Concord Monitor 12/23/08 (2008 WLNR 24590485), 1/17/09 (2009 WLNR 1051453); wbztv.com/local/michael.addison.death.2.890235.html; www.wmur.com/news/18000895/detail.html; www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-12-18-death-penalty_N.htm
By: a jury
Date of crime: October 16, 2006
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Addison fatally shot Manchester police officer Michael Briggs (age 35). The prosecution argued the shooting was in cold-blood and premeditated. The defense admitted that Addison killed Briggs. However, they sought a life sentence by arguing that Addison acted recklessly and suffered from an abusive childhood and possible brain damage from his mother’s heavy drinking while she was pregnant. This is New Hampshire’s first death sentence in 79 years. The last time a New Hampshire court imposed a death sentence was in 1959, but the two condemned men were spared by a 1972 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Prosecutor(s): Kelly Ayotte, Will Delker
Defense lawyer(s): Richard Guerriero, David Rothstein
Sources: AP DataStream 12/22/08 – 20:19:25; Concord Monitor 12/23/08 (2008 WLNR 24590485), 1/17/09 (2009 WLNR 1051453); wbztv.com/local/michael.addison.death.2.890235.html; www.wmur.com/news/18000895/detail.html; www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-12-18-death-penalty_N.htm