secure psychiatric unit

Matthew Millar is accused of “recklessly” killing Jason Rothe, a civilly committed patient, by kneeling on his back. His attorneys deny the charge.

Lawyers for a former prison guard want to ask Helen Hanks about her department’s belated disclosure of evidence, as well as handwritten notes she shredded. Hanks says it was routine practice to destroy those notes after she was done with them.

Since 2017, at least two men with serious mental illness have died in the psychiatric unit of the New Hampshire State Prison, after being restrained face down by corrections officers. The state maintains the cases are fundamentally different. But advocates say they reflect long-running problems with how the state cares for people in its custody.

The department says it halted its review of the April 29 death of Jason Rothe while a criminal investigation proceeded. Prosecutors charged a former guard with second-degree murder last week.

Until now, authorities have said little about the incident — and did not release autopsy results until Thursday.

Officials say the new facility will house patients who are currently sent to the prison system for treatment.

The facility houses people serving prison sentences who require psychiatric care, but also mental health patients who have not been convicted of a crime.

Jason Rothe, 50, died Saturday after a “physical altercation” with several officers at the Department of Corrections-run facility, according to the New Hampshire Department of Justice.

A man who has spent the last three and a half years inside a prison-run psychiatric unit despite never being convicted asked a judge on Friday to order…

The Democratic-led House passes its version of the state spending plan, with funding for the secure psychiatric unit restored. A bill to repeal the death…