The judge who oversaw a landmark case involving New Hampshire’s youth detention center found that facility leaders “either knew the truth and didn’t care, or didn’t care,” about endemic physical and sexual abuse. “There was no such thing,” he said, refusing to set aside the $38 million judgment. .
A jury earlier this month sided with David Meehan, who claims he was repeatedly raped, beaten and kept in solitary confinement at a youth development center in the 1990s. The attorney general’s office is seeking a significant reduction in the award. Although the issue remains unresolved, the state asked Judge Andrew Shulman to vacate the verdict and rule in the state’s favor.
Closing argument in NH youth detention center abuse lawsuit
In a motion filed Monday, state attorneys again argued that Meehan waited too long to file the lawsuit and failed to prove that the state’s negligence led to the abuse. Mr. Schulman quickly denied the allegations, saying that Mr. Meehan’s claims were timely based on a statute of limitations exception and that Mr. Meehan had “beyond any doubt” that the state had breached its duty of care regarding the training and supervision of its employees. Within 24 hours, the court ruled that the case had been proven. And discipline.
The Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester, New Hampshire, stands among the trees on January 28, 2020. A New Hampshire jury on Friday, May 3, 2024, awarded a $38 million verdict to a man who overturned allegations of abuse at the state’s youth detention center. In a landmark case, he admitted to state negligence that he was beaten, raped and kept in solitary confinement as a teenager. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Shulman said the jury found that the facility’s leadership committed “deep-rooted and at best local customs and practices,” including frequent sexual and physical assaults and “continuous emotional abuse of residents.” He could have easily determined that he was blinded by the incident.
“Perhaps there is more to the story, but based on the court record, liability for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty has been established with exponential certainty,” he wrote.
Meehan, 42, went to police in 2017 and sued the state three years later. Since then, 11 former state employees have been arrested and more than 1,100 other former residents of what is now called the Sununu Youth Services Center have been accused of six decades of physical, sexual and emotional abuse. A lawsuit is being filed. Former worker Frank Davis, 82, was found incompetent to stand trial and charges were dropped earlier this month.
Meehan’s case went to trial for the first time. For four weeks, his lawyers argued that the state encouraged a culture of abuse characterized by widespread brutality, corruption and a code of silence. The state painted Meehan as a violent child, a trouble-making teenager, and a delusional adult who lied to get money.
The jury awarded him $18 million in compensatory damages and $20 million in enhanced damages, but when asked how many cases the state was responsible for, he answered “one.” This prompted the state to request a reduction in the award, based on state law that allows claimants against the state to receive up to $475,000 in damages per case.
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Meehan’s lawyers said multiple emails they received from distraught jurors showed they misunderstood the questions on the jury form. They filed a motion Monday asking Schulman to withhold only the portion of the verdict in which the jury wrote “one” case and to withhold the $38 million payment. Alternatively, the justices could order a new trial based solely on the caseload or offer the state the option of agreeing to an increase in caseloads, they wrote.
Mr. Schulman last week rejected Mr. Meehan’s lawyers’ request to reconvene the jury to vote, but said he was open to other options for addressing the disputed verdict. A public hearing is scheduled for June 24th.
