Here's why the verdict in New Hampshire's landmark trial over youth center abuse is being disputed

CONCORD, N.H. -- CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — “Duped.” “Devastated.” “Sickened.” That’s however a assemblage foreperson felt aft learning that the magnitude awarded successful a landmark suit implicit maltreatment astatine New Hampshire’s younker detention halfway could beryllium slashed by astir 99%.

A assemblage connected Friday awarded $38 cardinal to David Meehan, who alleged that the state’s negligence allowed him to beryllium repeatedly raped, beaten and held successful solitary confinement arsenic a teen astatine the Youth Development Center. But the lawyer general’s bureau is seeking to trim the grant nether a authorities instrumentality that allows claimants against the authorities to retrieve a maximum of $475,000 per “incident.”

Several distraught jurors person since contacted Meehan’s attorneys, including 1 who said the authorities is misinterpreting the verdict. The lawyers person requested an exigency proceeding to code what they characterized arsenic disorder implicit the verdict form.

No proceeding has been scheduled, but present are immoderate things to cognize astir however the quality unfolded.

THE TRIAL

Meehan, 42, went to constabulary successful 2017 and sued the authorities 3 years later. Since then, 11 erstwhile authorities workers person been arrested and much than 1,100 different erstwhile residents of what is present called the Sununu Youth Services Center person filed lawsuits alleging physical, intersexual and affectional maltreatment spanning six decades.

Meehan’s suit was the archetypal to spell to trial. Over 4 weeks, his attorneys contended that the authorities encouraged a civilization of maltreatment marked by pervasive brutality, corruption and a codification of silence.

The authorities portrayed Meehan arsenic a convulsive child, troublemaking teen and delusional big lying to get money. Defense attorneys besides said the authorities was not liable for the behaviour of rogue employees and that Meehan waited excessively agelong to sue.

THE VERDICT

Jurors unanimously agreed that Meehan filed his suit successful a timely fashion, that helium was injured astatine the installation and that the state’s negligence caused his injuries. They awarded him $18 cardinal successful compensatory damages and an further $20 cardinal successful enhanced damages aft uncovering the authorities acted with reckless indifference oregon abused its power.

Jurors were unaware of the authorities instrumentality that caps damages astatine $475,000 per incident. When asked connected the verdict signifier however galore incidents they recovered Meehan had proven, they wrote “one.”

WHAT COUNTS AS AN INCIDENT?

That’s wherever it gets tricky.

In pre-verdict discussions without the assemblage present, lawyers for the authorities argued that each of Meehan’s claims arose retired of a azygous incidental of alleged negligence. Meehan’s lawyers insisted that each enactment of carnal oregon intersexual maltreatment beryllium counted arsenic a abstracted incident, adjacent those that happened simultaneously.

“Merely raping a kid is atrocious enough, but it’s adjacent worse, and a abstracted incident, if it besides involves hitting him successful the caput oregon kicking him successful the ribs oregon different things to get him to comply,” Meehan's lawyer David Vicinanzo said.

At 1 point, the justice considered including a database of the benignant of maltreatment alleged connected each day connected the verdict signifier and asking jurors to find whether an wounded occurred and whether the authorities was liable. But the authorities argued that providing specified a database would beryllium prejudicial to Meehan’s side.

Judge Andrew Schulman said helium disagreed with some parties and if forced to specify “incident,” helium would see each the acts that happened successful a fixed “episode” to beryllium 1 incident. That enactment him person to the plaintiff’s view, but successful the end, helium said helium would permission it up to the authorities Supreme Court to settle.

“Why spell retired and specify thing that there’s a 50% accidental of being incorrect if it doesn’t request to beryllium defined successful the archetypal place?” helium said. “They tin woody with it, but I don't deliberation I person to.”

Attorney Martha Gaythwaite, representing the state, did not code the contented successful her closing connection to jurors. Vicinanzo told the assemblage that Meehan was raped an estimated 200 times, beaten 200 times and held successful unjustified solitary confinement for astir 100 days.

“I privation to stress to you that the numbers are precise important,” helium said.

In his verbal instructions to the jury, Schulman said that alternatively than asking jurors to database “incident by incident” decisions, helium asked for “just the fig of incidents for which you find liability based connected timely claims.” The verdict signifier itself defined incidental arsenic a “(a) azygous occurrence during which the plaintiff was injured; (b) for which injuries the assemblage has recovered DHHS liable successful effect to erstwhile questions; (c) connected claims the assemblage recovered to beryllium timely claims successful effect to question 1.”

In effect to that question, the assemblage wrote “one.”

BUT WHAT DID THEY MEAN?

One juror explained it similar this: “We wrote connected our verdict signifier that determination was 1 incident/injury, being analyzable PTSD, from the effect of 100+ injuries (Sexual, Physical, affectional abuse),” the juror wrote successful an email to Meehan’s attorneys. “We were ne'er informed of a headdress being placed per incidental of maltreatment and that is incorrect however the question was worded to us.

“The authorities is making their ain mentation of the ruling that we made, and that is not close for them to presume our position,” the juror wrote. “David should beryllium entitled to what we awarded him, which was $38 million.”

In abstracted emails to the attorneys, the assemblage foreperson described a sleepless nighttime of crying aft learning astir the cap.

“We had nary idea,” the assemblage foreperson wrote. “Had we known that the colony magnitude was to beryllium connected a per incidental basis, I guarantee you, our result would person reflected it. I commune that Mr. Meehan realizes this and is made arsenic full arsenic helium tin perchance beryllium wrong a due magnitude of time.”