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Former NH state senator’s latest appeal denied; will now challenge 30-day sentence

After the criminal charges were first brought against him, Woodburn stepped down as the Democrats’ leader in the Senate but refused to resign his seat and ran again, unsuccessfully, for reelection in 2018. (File photo)
Josh Rogers
/
NHPR
After the criminal charges were first brought against him, Woodburn stepped down as the Democrats’ leader in the Senate but refused to resign his seat and ran again, unsuccessfully, for reelection in 2018. (File photo)

The New Hampshire Supreme Court has denied Jeff Woodburn’s latest appeal, rejecting a claim that he received ineffective legal counsel during his original 2021 criminal trial on a slate of misdemeanor domestic violence and criminal mischief charges.

The ruling is the latest procedural step in a legal case involving the former top New Hampshire Democrat that’s now stretched on for nearly seven years.

Woodburn, the former Senate minority leader and leading politician in the North Country, was accused of criminal wrongdoing for a string of violent interactions with his then intimate partner over the span of several months in 2017 and 2018.

Woodburn was originally sentenced to serve 60-days in jail after being found guilty of four of the nine original counts. Two of those charges, however, were previously overturned in a separate appeal in which Woodburn argued a judge should have allowed the jury to consider if Woodburn was acting in self-defense.

In a four-page order released this week stemming from a second appeal, a unanimous Supreme Court court found that Woodburn’s original legal team was competent, despite his claims that his counsel failed to request the various incidents, which occurred on at least four separate occasions, be separated into unique trials.

The ruling means that Woodburn is now facing 30-days in jail relating to two criminal mischief charges that stem from him kicking a door and kicking an appliance.

“After a lengthy and challenging legal process, this decision is consistent with our steadfast commitment to justice and our ongoing support for victims of domestic violence,” said New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella. “We remain dedicated to upholding the law and advocating for those affected by such crimes.”

But Woodburn’s new attorney, Mark Sisti, told NHPR on Wednesday that he will object to the imposition of the 30-day sentence, calling it an “excessive” penalty for a property crime involving someone with no previous criminal record.

Sisti said he will file an objection to the sentencing by the end of the week in Coos County Superior Court.

Earlier this year, a retrial on misdemeanor domestic violence charges involving Woodburn resulted in a hung jury. Prosecutors said they did not intend on seeking a third trial on those charges.

Woodburn was first elected as a state representative in 1988, and he went on to serve in the state senate after a failed bid for the Executive Council in 2000. After the criminal charges were first brought against him, he stepped down as the Democrats’ leader in the Senate but refused to resign his seat and ran again, unsuccessfully, for reelection in 2018.

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Todd started as a news correspondent with NHPR in 2009. He spent nearly a decade in the non-profit world, working with international development agencies and anti-poverty groups. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from Columbia University. He can be reached at tbookman@nhpr.org.
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