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Hooksett cop exonerated of DWI waits to hear if he’s still got a job

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:55:00 GMT

BY LAUREN SAUSSER

As soon as the Hooksett Police Department wraps up its internal investigation regarding the professional conduct of officer Benjamin Beauchemin, Police Chief Stephen Agrafiotis said he will deliver a final decision regarding Beauchemin’s employment status to the Hooksett Police Commission for final review.

It will be up to the Police Commission to make the final call, he said.

“I don’t have an exact time frame but the bottom line is we want to get it done as soon as possible,” Agrafiotis said. “We want to make sure the internal affairs investigation is as thorough as possible.”

Beauchemin was arrested last May for driving while intoxicated after he rolled his car off Cedar Crest Lane in Auburn. He was acquitted of the charges on Sept. 10 in Candia District Court. Agrafiotis said the court ruling will come into play in the department’s internal investigation, as well as other factors such as 911 calls that were made on the night of Beauchemin’s accident. Agrafiotis will review the internal findings, formulate his opinion and pass his recommendation along to the police commission for final approval. He also said he will notify Beauchemin on his recommendation before the commission votes on its final decision.

The commission meets the third Tuesday of each month, but Agrafiotis said he anticipates a special meeting will be called for the Beauchemin investigation.

“The Police Commission does the hiring and firing,” Agrafiotis said. “They will review (the recommendation) and make a decision from there.”

Dave Gagnon, chairman of the Police Commission, said he cannot form an opinion until he reviews the final results of the investigation.

“It’s in the best interest of everybody. I need to see the internal investigation before I make the final decision. That’s where the facts are. That’s where our information is,” Gagnon said. “It’s pretty vague, but until it’s done, there’s not much we can say.”

Also undetermined at this point of the investigation is whether or not the decision will be made during an open meeting. Agrafiotis said it is the right of an employee under a discipline review to request a closed meeting.

“Once I make a decision, I sit down with the employee and let them know what my decision is. If they want to appeal that decision, that’s when we have to set up meetings with lawyers and the commission and the employee decides whether its open or closed. That is a right they have.

It is still a personnel matter,” Agrafiotis said. “(The employee) can choose to open it up to the public if they want to.”

Off-duty Hooksett cop found innocent in DWI after flipping car in Auburn

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:33:00 GMT

BY LAUREN SAUSSER

Hooksett police officer Benjamin Beauchemin, who flipped his car off Cedar Crest Lane in Auburn last spring, was found not guilty of driving while intoxicated by a Candia District Court judge on Wednesday, Sept. 10. Judge David Lefrancois said in his ruling that the state had been unable to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Beauchemin had been drinking prior to the accident.

Eyewitnesses who testified at the trial said they smelled alcohol on Beauchemin, who refused to submit to a field sobriety test at the scene of the accident. Beauchemin told his arresting officer he had only one beer before driving on May 11, but also claimed to have chugged four beers at his girlfriend’s house after the accident, while he waited for emergency responders to arrive at the scene. He said he was trying to calm his nerves and was in shock.

According to one state police commander, Beauchemin’s version of what happened is unlikely.

“That’s a story that any police officer would have a little trouble believing, but also it’s down to the judge and it’s his decision, and I can respect that,” said Major Russ Conte, field operations bureau commander with the state police. “I fully understand that citizens in the state are outraged when a police officer engages in activities that are dangerous. They’re held in the same standard whether they’re in uniform or not. The public has a right to expect police officers to act in a way that brings dignity to their position.”

Public outrage over Beauchemin’s actions after the accident has been acute.

“I had a feeling this would happen,” said Katie Barrata, an eyewitness at the scene of Beauchemin’s accident. “I think he got off because he has a whole department of blue behind him.”

Beauchemin is currently on administrative leave without pay from his position at the Hooksett Police Department. Police Chief Stephen Agrafiotis said his department is still conducting its internal investigation and was unable to comment on whether Beauchemin will be asked to return to work.

“At this point, we’ll be reviewing the whole situation and making a final decision,” Agrafiotis said. “He hasn’t lost his job yet, but we have to finish our internal investigation and decide where we’ll go from there.”

Keith Lohmann, an instructor at the New Hampshire Police Academy in Concord, would not comment on the specific nature of Beauchemin’s actions after the accident, but explained that all New Hampshire police officers are required to complete ethics courses, which include appropriate off-duty conduct.

“Leaving the scene of an accident is an offense in and of itself,” Lohmann said. “The only way legally you leave the scene of an accident is if you’re summoning someone yourself. Generally, officers are taught about the criminal law, and certainly officers themselves are not supposed to break the law.”

All New Hampshire police officers are required to enroll in the 12-week training academy before starting their jobs, Lohmann said.

“The requirements of the criminal and motor vehicle laws are taught to them and presumably made clear,” he said. “They are tested on that material. DWI is one offense of many in the motor vehicle code, and they are taught about all of them. I feel safe to say that they are taught they are not supposed to break the law themselves.”

Further inflaming public criticism was the revelation recently that Beauchemin has been driving since the time of the crash.

Beauchemin fought to keep his license at a state motor vehicle hearing in June and prevailed on a technicality when the investigating state trooper failed to show up because of a court conflict in Portsmouth.

According to Curtis Duclose, the hearings administrator for the department of safety, Trooper Nick Cyr’s reason for missing the Beauchemin hearing was deemed insufficient to reopen the case, allowing Beauchemin to keep his license.

40 to 81 years for DWI deaths

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:14:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

A 25-year-old Hooksett man will spend 40 and a half to 81 years in prison on several counts each of manslaughter, aggravated assault and driving while intoxicated after he caused two deaths in a February 2006 crash in Manchester.

Joshua Lamy, of Martins Ferry Road, looked straight at Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge Gillian Abramson as she handed down the sentence, saying Lamy showed “zero remorse” during the course of the trial.

In December, a jury convicted Lamy on two counts of manslaughter, two counts of second- degree assault, and three counts of aggravated driving while intoxicated.

Taxi passenger Sheila Moody, 39, and the newborn son of taxi driver Brianna Emmons, Dominick, both lost their lives in the accident. Family members and friends of the victims spoke at the sentencing hearing on Thursday, Feb. 14, about the emotional and physical scars left in the wake of Lamy’s speeding Honda Civic.

“When I go to visit my son, I visit a square foot of granite that’s on top of my buried son,” said Michael Bianchini, the baby’s father.

Bianchini said Lamy needs to be held accountable for what he called irresponsible and selfish behavior on the night of the crash, but addressed Lamy civilly and said he forgives the man who took his son’s life.

“I hope that you can forgive you for what you did,” Bianchini said.

Lamy read aloud a statement he wrote to the court prior to hearing his sentence, saying he wished he could trade places with the victims.

“I just want you to understand that I’m not heartless, I’m not a monster and it was an accident,” he said, tears breaking his voice.

Lamy, 23 at the time of the accident, and Anthony Brown, now 30, left the Yee Dynasty on Feb. 18, 2006, after drinking.

According to police testimony, there was an altercation involving Lamy and a young woman that prompted the two men to get into Lamy’s Honda and speed away from the bar at more than 100 mph down Maple Street, a residential area in Manchester.

Taxi driver Emmons, then 18, was seven months pregnant when Lamy’s Civic ran a red light at the intersection of Maple and Blodget Streets and slammed into the passenger side of her taxi van at 103 mph.

The occupants of both vehicles were severely injured.

Moody, who took the brunt of the impact, died a few days later as a result of her injuries.

Baby Dominick, delivered by emergency cesarean shortly after the crash, suffered severe trauma due to a lack of oxygen sustained during his mother’s extensive injuries, which included a broken pelvis. He was on life support for two weeks before he died.

Brown suffered serious head trauma, including brain swelling and a resulting aneurysm that left him with severe brain damage and no memory of the accident.

Lamy himself suffered two broken legs in the crash, the dashboard having pushed his knees up to his chin.

Judge Abramson said she based her decision for the maximum allowed sentence largely on Lamy’s lengthy prior criminal and motor vehicle records, which include two convictions for drug possession, several license suspensions resulting from drunk and reckless driving, conspiracy to commit theft, resisting arrest and a prowling charge.

She added Lamy looked “bored” during the sentencing hearing, and pointed to an instance on the second day of the trial in which Lamy told his attorneys to make sure he could get back to the jail by a certain time so he could take a shower.

“You cannot begin to fathom the damage that you have caused,” Abramson said, adding his past showed a clear progression of dangerous behavior.

“The only way to deter this individual is to keep him off the streets and remove him from society as long as possible,” said Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sandoval. “This absolutely cries out for the maximum punishment.”

Lamy’s attorneys asked for a lesser sentence of 13-and-a-half to 40 years in prison as well as a stay in sentencing, claiming the pre-sentencing investigation report contained inaccuracies.

Attorney Charles O’Leary also cited similar cases under the same circumstances which carried less hefty sentences, a point Sandoval countered by pointing out that Lamy had been convicted of manslaughter, not negligent homicide, and the defendants in those other cases had pleaded guilty.

Part of Lamy’s sentence includes paying $20,000 in restitution to the families of Dominick Emmons and Sheila Moody. He is also to have no contact with either family, is required to stay at least 500 yards from them and must go through drug rehabilitation while serving his sentence.

Lamy will be eligible for parole from the Hillsborough County House of Corrections at the age of 65.

Lamy guilty in deadly DWI

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:53:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

A Hooksett man may spend between 44 and 88 years in prison after a jury found him guilty on a number of charges stemming from a fatal crash in February 2006 in Manchester.

Joshua Lamy, 25, of Martins Ferry Road, was convicted of two counts each of manslaughter and negligent homicide, two counts of second-degree assault, and three counts of aggravated driving while intoxicated for driving at excessive speeds down Maple Street in Manchester, running a red light, and slamming into a taxicab on Feb. 18, 2006, at around 1 a.m.

The taxi driver, Briana Emmons, 20, broke down in tears upon hearing the verdict.

Emmons, who suffered a fractured pelvis among other injuries, was eight months pregnant at the time of the accident and delivered the baby boy by cesarean section shortly after the crash, but the baby died two weeks later because of a lack of oxygen during the trauma. The baby, Dominick Emmons, was counted in the manslaughter and negligent homicide charges.

Emmon’s passenger, Sheila Moody, 39, at the time of the accident, also died several days after the crash as a result of her injuries.

“He should have just called a cab,” said Brenda Milonas, Moody’s aunt, about Lamy. She added that she wished for Lamy to go to prison. “You can’t bring her back. You can’t change it.”

Both Lamy and his passenger, Anthony Brown of Hooksett suffered serious injuries. Brown, now 30, suffered an aneurysm stemming from a serious head injury and was unable to testify at Lamy’s trial, prosecutors said.

Lamy himself suffered two broken ankles, the dashboard having pinned him inside his 1992 Honda Civic with his legs folded up to his chest, accounting for one of the three aggravated DWI charges.

Prosecutors said Lamy left the Yee Dynasty restaurant and lounge on South Willow Street with Brown and drove at 100 mph down Maple Street, running several red lights before striking the cab driven by Emmons on the passenger side, seriously injuring Moody.

Witness testimony from Emmons, along with that of several drivers and neighbors in the area who saw Lamy’s car traveling at a high rate of speed, sealed the state’s case, said Assistant Hillsborough County Attorney Jennifer Sandoval.

According to the testimony of accident reconstructionist Sgt. Michael Hurley of the Manchester Police Department, the taxi cab was traveling about 10 mph through a green light at the intersection when Lamy’s vehicle struck the cab’s passenger side at 103 mph, pushing it sideways more than 90 feet down the road. The cab’s speed after the impact was calculated at 42 mph.

Defense attorneys Robert Monteith and Charles O’Leary, argued that Lamy’s mental state at the time of the accident showed that he was unaware of the consequences of his actions, and also that in veering his car to the right he had attempted to avoid the crash.

They also argued that Emmons, who had gotten her taxi license several weeks before, was not used to driving the van and may have been distracted by Moody, who according to reports, was also intoxicated at the time of the crash and was sitting in the front seat.

Lamy wept during a short recess taken on Thursday, Nov. 29, prior to closing arguments. “As a representative of Mr. Lamy, he understands and appreciates the nature and the scope of the tragedy,” said O’Leary.

The trial, which began on Monday, Nov. 26, was much shorter than expected, prosecutors said.

Jurors went into deliberations in the afternoon on Thursday, Nov. 29, at around 1:30 p.m. Later that day, two jurors were removed from their duties.

Both defense and prosecutors said one of the jurors disclosed to the bailiff that the other had done some outside investigation on his own by driving the route taken by Lamy before the accident.

On Friday, Nov. 30, the defense moved for a mistrial, which was denied.

Presiding Judge Gillian Abramson said Lamy’s sentencing would likely be scheduled for sometime in January.