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CONCORD, N.H. -- Attorneys for a New Hampshire antheral who prevailed successful a landmark suit implicit maltreatment astatine a state-run younker detention halfway are asking for a proceeding aft the assemblage foreperson expressed dismay that the $38 cardinal grant could beryllium slashed to $475,000.
Jurors connected Friday awarded $18 cardinal successful compensatory damages and $20 cardinal successful enhanced damages 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 successful Manchester. But the lawyer general’s bureau said the grant would beryllium reduced nether a authorities instrumentality that allows claimants against the authorities to retrieve a maximum of $475,000 per incident.
“I’m truthful sorry. I’m perfectly devastated,” the assemblage foreperson wrote to lawyer Rus Rilee connected Friday evening, according to the proceeding petition filed Saturday.
Jurors were not told of the cap, but they were asked however galore incidents it recovered Meehan had proven. They wrote “one,” but the completed signifier does not bespeak whether they recovered a azygous lawsuit of maltreatment oregon grouped each of Meehan’s allegations together.
“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.”
After consulting with extracurricular counsel with expertise successful post-trial matters, Rilee and lawyer David Vicinanzo requested that a proceeding beryllium held Monday. According to their request, Rilee did not spot the email from the juror until Saturday and did not reply.
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 the Youth Development Center successful Manchester person filed lawsuits alleging physical, intersexual and affectional maltreatment spanning six decades.
Meehan’s suit was the archetypal to beryllium filed and the archetypal to spell to trial. After 4 weeks of testimony, jurors returned a verdict successful nether 3 hours.
Over the people of the trial, Meehan’s attorneys accused the authorities of encouraging a civilization of maltreatment marked by pervasive brutality, corruption and a codification of silence. They called much than a twelve witnesses to the stand, including erstwhile staffers who said they faced absorption and adjacent threats erstwhile they raised oregon investigated concerns, a erstwhile nonmigratory who described being gang-raped successful a stairwell, and a teacher who said she spotted suspicious bruises connected Meehan and fractional a twelve different boys.
The authorities argued it was not liable for the behaviour of rogue employees and that Meehan waited excessively agelong to sue. Its witnesses included Meehan’s father, who answered “yes” erstwhile asked whether his lad had “a estimation for untruthfulness.” Others who testified included a longtime younker halfway main who said she saw nary signs of maltreatment implicit 4 decades and a psychiatrist who diagnosed Meehan with bipolar disorder, not the post-traumatic accent upset claimed by his side.
In cross-examining Meehan, attorneys for the authorities portrayed him arsenic a convulsive kid who continued to origin occupation astatine the younker halfway — and a delusional big who is exaggerates oregon lies to get money. The attack highlighted an antithetic dynamic successful which the lawyer general’s bureau is some defending the authorities against the civilian lawsuits and prosecuting suspected perpetrators successful the transgression cases.
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