Windham News : court

Trial begins for man accused of baby abuse

Salem Editor — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 19:14:00 GMT

A Windham man went on trial this week, accused of breaking two dozen of his infant son’s bones.

A jury hearing the case at Rockingham County Superior Court in Brentwood will decide if Gurrie Fandozzi II, 41, is guilty of 24 charges of first degree assault. He has pleaded not guilty. The trial began Monday, Nov. 5.

In August 2006, doctors discovered that the boy, then 6 months old, had suffered fractures to his spine, arms, legs, ribs and skull.

The baby was brought to a Boston hospital after emergency workers responded to a call from Fandozzi’s 20 Squire Armour Road home reporting that the child wasn’t breathing.

The boy is now healing and living with his mother and sister, according to the WMUR Web site.

The jury will not hear all the evidence that Assistant County Attorney Patricia Conway, the prosecutor in the case, had hoped to bring out in court.

Judge Tina Nadeau, in late October, ruled on 16 motions that had been filed in court, siding with Fandozzi’s lawyer, Steven Shandallah, in some of them.

For example, the jury will not hear what the boy’s 4-year-old sister told child advocates after police began investigating the case. Nadeau ruled that the interview is inadmissible hearsay.

She did, however, leave open the possibility that specific statements made by the girl could be entered if circumstances change during the trial.

The jury won’t hear from the girl at all. Earlier this year, Nadeau ruled she is not competent to testify.

Court filings by Conway depict the defendant, who previously practiced law in Connecticut, as out of work, struggling financially, and unhappy with his family life and with being a stay-at-home father.

“The defendant had a number of stressors in his life which caused him to be unhappy,” Conway wrote in one of her filings. “Although the defendant probably did not mean to break a number of bones in his infant’s body, he essentially couldn’t handle all of the stress and took it out on his baby.”

The jury will not hear from a couple, former friends of Fandozzi, who would have testified that he seemed to be very angry, and became aggressive and argumentative.

Nadeau ruled that she was not persuaded by Conway’s argument that evidence about his personality change is relevant to his motive in allegedly abusing his son.

Conway will be able to present evidence about Fandozzi’s strained relationship with his in-laws.

Nadeau ruled that evidence about the relationship shows proof of his state of mind at the time of the abuse.

And Conway can also bring evidence about the defendant’s strained relationship with his wife, Tammy Fandozzi.

Fandozzi wanted to prevent prosecutors from doing so, arguing the evidence is not relevant and could be prejudicial.

“The defendant’s ability to control himself is highly probative of how he handled the pressures of caring for a newborn and is relevant to whether he acted recklessly at the time,” Nadeau wrote.

Tammy Fandozzi does not face charges in the case.

Nadeau also denied Shandallah’s motion to exclude testimony from Dr. Alice W. Newton, a pediatrician affiliated with Boston Children’s Hospital, about the location, cause and age of the boy’s broken bones.

Shadallah had argued that because Newton is neither a radiologist nor an orthopedic doctor, she lacks the expertise to identify broken bones, and therefore, her testimony would be wholly based on the opinions of another doctor, Paul Kleinman.

“Dr. Newton has the appropriate knowledge to evaluate how another doctor’s reading of (the boy’s) X-rays relates to what she knows about the appearance of a child’s bones when they are broken, healing or intact,” Nadeau wrote.

While Kleinman may testify about the severity of the injuries, he will not be allowed to share with the jury that the injuries are among the 10 worst cases of child abuse he has seen.

And Newton will not be allowed to share that the name of the group she is part of at the hospital is the Child Protection Team.

The jury will also not be told disciplinary action was taken against Fandozzi by the Connecticut Bar Association. The matter is too attenuated to have relevance to the abuse that occurred in 2006 and could prejudice the jury, Nadeau ruled. The state argued a possible legal malpractice suit added stress in Fandozzi’s life.

Prosecutors will be allowed to call to the witness stand an auto mechanic about what he saw when Fandozzi brought the family’s cars to a garage to be inspected in late July 2006.

The mechanic will testify that Fandozzi took his daughter outside, leaving his son in the car. The boy, dressed in pants and a long sleeve shirt, did not respond when the mechanic spoke to the baby.

The state argues in the days before his hospitalization showed the baby was despondent and unresponsive and rebuts claims he was happy and well in the days before being admitted to the hospital.

“Testimony about the defendant’s differing treatment of the two children is relevant to explain the defendant’s motivation in harming one, but not the other,” Nadeau wrote.

Former selectman will be tried for felony – Doyle faces Superior Court trial for striking election worker

Salem Editor — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:23:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

The New Hampshire Supreme Court recently ruled that a former Windham selectman can be tried on a felony charge of assaulting an election worker.

Christopher Doyle wanted the charge dismissed, arguing that Gail Webster was disqualified from acting as an election official at the polls on March 8, 2005, because her name was on the ballot as a candidate for cemetery trustee.

Doyle is charged with striking Webster in the chest after he lost a re-election bid to the Board of Selectmen.

Doyle’s father, Edward, and another man were arguing and Webster wanted to find a police officer when Doyle allegedly struck her in the Golden Brook School gymnasium.

Doyle was 26 and Webster was 61 at the time.

The felony charge that Doyle faces, assaulting a town officer, carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison and a $4,000 fine, if he’s convicted.

Doyle filed an appeal with the state’s highest court after Superior Court Judge Patricia Coffey denied his motion to dismiss the felony indictment.

“While as a matter of law Ms. Webster ought to have been disqualified from acting as a supervisor of the checklist at the Windham election, in reality she was not,” Coffey wrote in her order.

The state Supreme Court held up Coffey’s decision and remanded the case back to Superior Court for a trial.

Doyle, who was a member of the state House of Representatives at the time of the alleged assault, did not run for re-election to the Legislature the following year.

He lost his bid to retain his seat on the Zoning Board of Adjustment in 2006.

Man convicted after luring teen

Salem Editor — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 20:04:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

A Florida man faces at least 10 years behind bars after being convicted of luring a 15-year-old girl from her Windham home.

Following a three-day trial, Daniel M. Lenz, 26, of Jacksonville, Fla., was convicted in U.S. District Court in Concord. He had been charged with causing the transportation of a minor in interstate commerce for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual misconduct.

In March, Windham police were notified that the girl had run away from home. Investigators discovered that she was on her way to Florida to meet Lenz.

Authorities met up with her in South Carolina. They claimed that another Florida man, Jason Dowling, 23, had been sent by Lenz to pick up the girl in New Hampshire and bring her to Lenz’s home in Jacksonville.

Windham police and the FBI determined that the girl had been communicating with Lenz through World of Warcraft, an online interactive video game, before she ran away.

The case against Lenz was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.

“When Congress passed the Protect Act, it emphasized the importance of prosecuting those individuals who use the Internet to prey on minors by increasing the punishment for such crimes,” Thomas Colantuono, U.S. Attorney for New Hampshire, said in a statement. “This office will continue to dedicate its resources to prosecuting those individuals who travel the interstate with the purpose of engaging in sex with minors. Prosecuting such individuals will remove them and the danger they pose and will provide a significant deterrent to those who may consider taking advantage of our children.”

Colantuono praised the work of the Windham police, the FBI, the Cyber-Crime Unit of the Florida Attorney General’s Office and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Department.

Lenz will be sentenced on Dec. 18. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Helen Fitzgibbon.

Sister can’t testify – Court will not hear from daughter of man accused of abusing baby son

Salem Editor — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 18:01:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

The 4-year-old daughter of a man accused of injuring his infant son cannot testify against her father at his trial, a judge ruled.

Rockingham Superior Court Judge Tina Nadeau ruled that based on the girl’s testimony at a competency hearing, she lacked “the ability to comprehend the importance of truthfulness and the distinction between truth and fantasy.”

Gurrie Fandozzi Jr., 41, formerly of Windham and now living in Nashua, faces 28 counts of first-degree assault.

Prosecutors allege that he caused multiple injuries to his son, including fractures to the boy’s skull,
shoulders, arms, ribs and vertebrae in the summer of 2006 when his son was about 6 months old. He faces up to 30 years in prison on each charge.

Fandozzi has pleaded not guilty.

Patricia Conway, an assistant county attorney, had argued that the girl was a competent witness in the case. Fandozzi’s Salem lawyer, Steven G. Shadallah, argued she was not.

In her ruling, Nadeau said that the girl was unable to articulate her understanding of truthfulness, and her ability to observe, remember and narrate was “marginal at best and was not commensurate to that of a four-year-old child.”

“Though she was able to provide some details about her family life and her current activities, she often failed to recall names of people and describe recent events with the type of accuracy that would produce confidence in the overall reliability of her testimony,” Nadeau wrote.

Nadeau also wrote that the child was easily distracted during the hearing and answered questions in a manner that caused her to believe the girl did not understand the questions asked of her.

Rockingham County Attorney Jim Reams did not characterize her decision as a setback.

“Her decision does not have a huge impact,” he said. “It’s relatively insignificant, as it affects us, as to proving our case.”

At the time of the alleged abuse, Fandozzi was a stay-at-home father while his wife, Tammy, worked.

Emergency workers were called to their home in early August of last year after being notified that the baby wasn’t breathing.

Doctors advised Windham police that the injuries were inflicted and not accidental. Authorities said the case was one of the worst child abuse cases they had ever seen.

Throw it out – Former legislator wants assault charge dropped

Salem Editor — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 20:02:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

A former state legislator, who is accused of striking an election worker two years ago, wants to have the assault charge against him thrown out.

Christopher Doyle, now 29, a former Windham selectman, is appealing the charge at the New Hampshire Supreme Court.

Doyle is accused of pushing Gail Webster, now 63, in the chest, knocking her to the floor in March 2005.

The alleged assault occurred in the Golden Brook School gymnasium as local election results were being announced. Doyle had just lost a bid for re-election to the board of selectmen.

Doyle’s father and another man were arguing, and Webster wanted to find a police officer when Doyle allegedly struck her.

Doyle faces a felony charge of assaulting a town officer at an election, which is punishable by up to seven years in prison and a $4,000 fine.

But Doyle’s lawyer, Michael Ricker, argues that the state cannot establish that Webster was discharging the duties of an election official when she was allegedly assaulted.

She was legally disqualified from performing her duties because she was a candidate for cemetery trustee that day, he argues.

Doyle wants the Supreme Court to reverse Superior Court judge Patricia Coffey’s ruling that although Webster should have been disqualified from acting as checklist supervisor, she was not, and therefore he can still be prosecuted.

In late 2005, Doyle agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge, in which a one-year jail sentence would be suspended if he apologized to Webster, performed 100 hours of community service, underwent anger management and resigned from public office.

At the time, Doyle was a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives and sat on the town’s Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Doyle, however, pulled out of the plea deal. At the same time, his lawyer, Cathy Green, withdrew from his case.

The next lawyer Doyle hired, Peter Anderson, also withdrew, citing Doyle’s inability to pay him.

Doyle did not seek re-election to the Legislature in 2006. In March, 2007, he placed a distant third when three candidates ran for the Zoning Board.

Two seats were available, which were won by Webster and former conservation commission member Dianna Fallon.

Webster denied she was seeking a “grudge match” with Doyle.

Last April, Doyle did not contest a charge, reduced from a misdemeanor to a violation, that he wrote a $333.50 check to register a car in Windham on an account that was closed.

A $500 fine was suspended provided that Doyle, who eventually made good on the check, stay on good behavior for a year.

Doyle could not be reached for comment on this story.

Sentence increased in fatal DWI case

Salem Editor — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 20:06:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

A Salem man who was drunk when he caused the 2005 collision in Windham that claimed the life of a young Derry woman recently had his prison sentence increased.

The New Hampshire Superior Court’s Sentence Review Board increased Jack Webb’s sentence on a negligent homicide charge from five to 10 years to seven-and-a-half to 15 years.

Webb pleaded guilty last year to three felony charges related to the Oct. 30, 2005, collision that claimed the life of
Katelyn Contraros.

Webb’s blood-alcohol level was almost three times the legal limit when his pickup truck crossed the center line on Route 111 near Rocky Ridge Road in Windham and struck the car being driven by Contraros.

Contraros, who was 19, died from severe injuries the following day at a Boston hospital. Two friends riding in her car were injured.

“We were happy. We were worried he’d get a reduction,” said Debbie Contraros, Katelyn’s mother. But she said the sentence increase “doesn’t bring our daughter back.”

Last November, Superior Court Judge Patricia Coffey sentenced Webb to a total of seven to 18 years in prison: five to 10 years on the negligent homicide charge, and one to four years each on two counts of second-degree assault for injuring the passengers.

Prosecutors had dropped three other charges.

Appearing before the sentence review board in June, Webb’s lawyer, Phil Desfosses, argued for a reduced sentence.

According to a published report, Desfosses said that similar cases resulted in less prison time and cited Webb’s lack of a criminal record.

But the board, instead, increased the sentence. Although Coffey was constrained by a capped plea, the sentence review board is not, Judge Peter Fauver wrote in the panel’s June 21 order.

“The board has determined that the increased sentence as indicated above is warranted under the circumstances of this case,” Fauver wrote.

Fauver joined Judge Larry Smukler in the ruling. Judge William Groff, who would have left the sentences as originally imposed, dissented.

The panel did not change the sentences for assault. Webb will lose his driver’s license indefinitely. With the increased sentence for negligent homicide, Webb’s total sentence is between nine-and-a-half to 23 years.

Contraros said her family wasn’t happy they had to go to the sentence review hearing in Concord to “rekindle everything.”

She said she and her family and the two young men injured in the collision will “never be the same again.”

Rockingham County Attorney Jim Reams, whose office argued against a reduction, was happy with the ruling.

“For the family, we’re glad the legal process is over and they can pick up the pieces of their lives and they don’t have this hanging over them,” he said.

Desfosses is on vacation and was unavailable for comment.

At the November sentencing, Webb expressed remorse for the pain he had caused.

During the hearing, Katelyn’s friends and relatives described her as fun, caring and loving. Friends of Webb’s described him as a charitable and goodhearted man who helped provide food baskets to the needy and helped send underprivileged kids to camp.