Attorneys for the state of New Hampshire rested their case Wednesday in the landmark child abuse lawsuit filed by David Meehan.
The state called witnesses who cast doubt on Meehan’s credibility, undercut experts called by the plaintiff, and gave alternative descriptions of the former Youth Development Center (YDC) as a well-functioning youth detention facility.
Meehan’s lawsuit accuses the state of enabling rampant physical, sexual, and psychological abuse of children detained at YDC in the 1990s. His case, now in its fourth week of trial, is the first of hundreds of similar pending lawsuits to reach the courtroom.
The state’s first witness was the plaintiff’s father, Daniel Meehan.
He disputed details offered by his son in earlier testimony about an abusive home, including allegations by David Meehan that his mother struck him with a fire extinguisher and put out cigarettes on him in the years before he was taken into state custody at YDC at the age of 14 in 1995.
“Did you ever see any marks on your son consistent with being hit with a fire extinguisher?” asked Assistant Attorney General Brandon Chase.
“No,” replied Daniel Meehan.
“Did you ever see your wife putting out cigarettes on his face?”
“We didn’t smoke,” said Daniel Meehan.
Later, Chase asked, “Based on all your experiences, before he went to YDC, since he went to YDC, does [David Meehan] have a reputation for untruthfulness?”
Daniel Meehan replied, “Yes.”
On cross examination, Daniel Meehan conceded during the period in question he was often not home and that his now ex-wife was the chief disciplinarian.
The state also called Laurie Young, a lawyer with the state Department of Health and Human Services, who conducted a search for discovery documents in response to Meehan’s lawsuit.
Young testified there was an extensive search for YDC records across multiple locations, but it was likely that not all documents from the late 1990s survived to today.
She also said record-retention policies at the Division of Children, Youth, and Families — the state’s child protective services agency — require reports into child abuse investigations to be kept for a maximum of seven years. Young said the policy could explain why she found no records of DCYF investigations into YDC from the 1990s.
Longtime YDC employee says she saw no signs of abuse
The state also called to the stand Marie Sullivan, who worked at YDC for 39 years, first as a residential staffer and later as an employee of the on-site school until she retired in 2021. Sullivan said she saw no signs of abuse at YDC and described a wholesome environment for children there.
“We had building construction, automotive, culinary,” said Sullivan, listing the courses YDC students could enroll in at the detention center’s school.
Asked by Assistant Attorney General Catherine Denny if she believed that staff at YDC cared about the children there, Sullivan replied, “I believe they did, because it’s a very hard job and you don’t stay unless you like what you do.”
Sullivan’s testimony stood in stark contrast to that of five former YDC staffers called by the plaintiff’s attorneys who described a violent culture where management instructed staff to never take the word of children over employees. One of those witnesses was a social studies teacher who said she reported suspected abuse of Meehan and several other children to YDC management and to DCYF, with no response.
Denny also asked Sullivan’s impression of a certain former staff member, Brad Asbury, who was the house leader of the YDC dormitory where Meehan says he suffered the majority of the alleged abuse.
“I had no issues with him,” said Sullivan.
“From my point of view, his communications with the students was fine. I didn’t observe him being mean to anyone,” said Sullivan, adding, “He wasn’t abusive.”
In separate criminal proceedings, the state of New Hampshire accuses Asbury of being an accomplice to sexually assault of children at YDC. He has pled not guilty.
Asbury has been a recurring figure in the ongoing civil trial. He was fired by DHHS in 1994 for what was described in his termination letter as “a callous disregard for the rights of residents.” Asbury challenged his firing before the state’s Personnel Appeals Board and ultimately won his job back — something attorneys for the state were quick to point out to jurors this week.
The fact that civil attorneys for the state are working to burnish Asbury’s reputation while criminal prosecutors accuse him of sexual assault is the latest disconnect between the two halves of the attorney general’s office and their positions on alleged abuse at YDC.
The state also called Dr. Eric Mart, a forensic psychologist who examined children at YDC in the 1990s, including David Meehan. Mart testified he saw no signs of abuse at YDC.
He also criticized reports by expert witnesses hired by Meehan’s attorneys for not conducting tests he said could help determine whether Meehan was exaggerating or lying about his symptoms.
Attorneys spar over Meehan’s mental health diagnoses
The state’s final witness, Dr. Harrison Pope, a Harvard professor and psychiatrist at McLean Hospital, challenged the testimony of the plaintiff’s psychiatric experts who all said post-traumatic stress disorder was Meehan’s main diagnosis.
Pope told the jury instead, “the most important thing in his case is his history of bipolar disorder.”
Whether Meehan has PTSD or bipolar disorder has been in dispute throughout the trial. Meehan’s attorneys and experts say he has severe PTSD from horrific abuse at YDC. The state and Pope contend he suffers from an inherited bipolar disorder that showed symptoms long before he ever went to YDC.
Pope testified that a 2020 incident in which Meehan was admitted to the hospital was a manic episode, typical of bipolar disorder. During the event, Meehan said he was royalty and a biblical figure.
“Psychotic symptoms are not a feature of post-traumatic stress disorder,” said Pope. “People can get terrible trauma, but they don’t get psychotic. For example, people who had the ultimate trauma, survivors of concentration camps, who were liberated by the allies in 1945, they were terribly traumatized, obviously, but they didn’t come out believing that they were a biblical figure.”
On cross-examination, Dan Deane, one of Meehan’s attorneys, pointed out Pope was the only doctor to diagnose bipolar disorder as Meehan’s primary condition.
“You’re kind of standing alone here, amongst the experts that have been called in this case and the clinicians on the ground that have been treating David Meehan at least since 2012,” said Deane. “All say PTSD clearly indicated, and you’re saying ‘no.’”
Closing arguments in the case are set to begin on Thursday.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the criminal charges against Brad Asbury.
