Lawyer defending New Hampshire in youth center abuse trial attacks former resident's credibility

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Lawyer defending New Hampshire in youth center abuse trial attacks former resident's credibility

2024-04-23 05:23 Last Updated At：05:31

BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) — A lawyer defending the state of New Hampshire against abuse allegations at its youth detention center attacked the plaintiff’s credibility Monday, suggesting he was a troublemaker who was appropriately punished as a teen and is now a delusional adult seeking a payout.

David Meehan, 42, who says he was repeatedly raped, beaten and locked in solitary confinement at the Youth Development Center in Manchester in the late 1990s, went to police in 2017 and sued the state three years later. Since then, 11 former state workers have been arrested, and more than 1,100 former residents have filed lawsuits claiming the state’s negligence allowed abuse spanning six decades.

Meehan’s lawsuit was the first to go to trial earlier this month. He returned to the witness stand Monday to face further cross-examination by Martha Gaythwaite, a Maine lawyer representing the state along with several assistant attorneys general. She started by asking Meehan multiple questions about the crimes that landed him in the facility and his early experiences with gangs, sex and drugs.

“Back before you ever got to YDC, there were events in your life that were quite troubling,” she said. Meehan agreed with that statement, but denied any gang affiliation and said he lied as a teen about drugs and sex to appear tough.

“Were you giving disinformation then or are you giving disinformation now?” Gaythwaite asked.

“I was a child,” he answered.

Gaythwaite also tried to cast doubt on Meehan’s testimony that he contracted gonorrhea from being raped by a male staffer at age 15. She noted that he sought medical treatment after returning from a furlough “covered with hickeys” from his then-girlfriend, now wife. She questioned him at length about him being disciplined for going AWOL and planning to escape. And she showed him log books that described him injuring his groin playing football, not from a violent rape that involved being dragged outside and left on a field as he has described.

“You would agree, sir, that the record that was written at the time … while the events were taking place is more accurate than a 24-year-old memory?” she asked.

“These are not my words,” he said. “That’s not what happened.”

The line of questioning highlighted the unusual dynamic in which the attorney general’s office is both prosecuting former workers and defending the state against the allegations in the civil lawsuits. While one team of state lawyers will be relying on Meehan’s testimony in the criminal trials, another is trying to undermine his credibility in his civil trial.

Though she apologized several times for “having to ask these questions,” Gaythwaite pressed Meehan on his mental health history, including an incident in which his wife had him committed to a psychiatric facility.

“The same year, 2020, when you're out on the balcony screaming uncontrollably and telling people you thought you were royalty and a biblical figure, that is the same year that you filed this lawsuit against my client, the Department of Health and Human Services, claiming there was a widespread culture of abuse,” she said.

The state argues that not only should it not be held liable for the actions of “rogue” employees, but that Meehan waited too long to come forward. The statute of limitations for such lawsuits is three years from the date of injury, though there are exceptions in cases when victims were not aware of its link to the wrongful party. Gaythwaite asked several questions suggesting he was aware of a possible claim against the state years before he sued, but he denied that was the case.

Throughout the day, Meehan answered questions calmly but grew emotional later when asked by his lawyer about the impact of having to describe the abuse to investigators, medical professionals, lawyers and now a jury.

"What, I’m the bad guy? I was a bad kid so I deserved it? Or I was a bad kid, so that proves I’m a bad man now, and I (expletive) it made it up?" he said. “That hurts.”

Fry's 2-run homer in 10th sends Guardians to stunning 7-5 win over Yankees, close to 2-1 in ALCS

2024-10-18 11:38 Last Updated At：11:41

CLEVELAND (AP) — Jhonkensy Noel saved Cleveland's season. David Fry extended it.

With two huge swings, the Guardians hit back at the big, bad New York Yankees and tightened an AL Championship Series that was just about over.

Noel connected for a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning and Fry hit a two-run shot in the 10th as Cleveland rallied past New York 7-5 on Thursday night in an unforgettable Game 3 to pull the Guardians to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

Cleveland’s unexpected season that included 92 wins and the AL Central title was on the brink after Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer off All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase and Giancarlo Stanton followed with a solo drive in the eighth to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead.

But Noel, a burly outfielder known as Big Christmas, delivered an October gift and Fry followed with his second momentous homer in these playoffs.

“That’s exactly who we are,” first-year Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “We never quit. We get punched in the teeth pretty hard there in the eighth, and our guys stepped up huge for the guy that carried us all year long. That was really fun to see."

It was exhausting, thrilling and dramatic as the Yankees and Guardians jammed a season's worth of highlights into three innings.

"That was playoff baseball,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Both sides just kept coming with haymakers and big at-bats, big moments off of two really good bullpens. They outlasted us. They had one more good swing than us. That’s part of it. We’ll be ready to roll tomorrow.”

The Guardians trailed 5-3, had no runners on base in the ninth and were moments from falling into a 3-0 deficit when Lane Thomas doubled against Luke Weaver, who had been perfect in eight save chances since taking over as the Yankees closer in September. Noel then delivered his towering homer.

As he rounded the bases, Progressive Field fans danced on their seats and in the aisles in a moment reminiscent of Rajai Davis’ tying homer off Aroldis Chapman in the eighth inning of 2016 World Series Game 7.

It was fitting that Davis, who now works for Major League Baseball, was on hand to see Noel's homer that now belongs beside his in Cleveland history.

“We’re a team that don’t quit,” Noel, who came in 1 of 15 in the playoffs, said through an interpreter. “We play 27 outs, so that’s kind of what happened today.”

Fry joked Noel's homer was stunning and no surprise at all.

“It was amazement,” he said of the reaction in Cleveland's dugout. "It was so much excitement, but then it was just like, oh, yeah, of course Jhonkensy hit a game-tying homer against a guy throwing 98 hits it for a homer.

“Nobody does that. Like Vogter said coming in the game, it's like, here you go, big boy, hit a two-run homer, and he did. It’s so cool.”

Fry’s swing ended an instant fall classic.

Bo Naylor singled leading off the 10th against Clay Holmes and Brayan Rocchio sacrificed. Naylor took third on Steven Kwan's comebacker before Fry, who hit a Division Series-saving homer in Game 4 at Detroit, sent a 1-2 sinker into the left-field bleachers.

Fry watched the ball sail into the stands before heading toward first. He was mobbed by teammates after crossing home plate as fans tossed drinks in the air while trying to process the emotional rollercoaster they had endured.

“I blacked out,” Fry said. “I remember being like halfway down the first baseline looking back at the dugout and looking and saying, alright, I just have to make sure I touch all four bases and get home and celebrate.”

Cleveland can tie the series with a win Friday.

The Guardians still have a chance to end baseball's current longest World Series drought, stretching to 1948.

Judge homered in Game 2 but was batting just .143 (3 of 21) with eight strikeouts this October before coming to the plate against Clase, the AL’s saves leader and MLB’s most feared reliever.

After falling behind 1-2 in the count, Judge, who was on the field taking batting practice five hours before the game, sat back and drove a 99 mph cutter from Clase the opposite way to right, the ball just clearing the outfield wall.

New York’s players poured out of the dugout to celebrate as Judge, the likely AL MVP after hitting 58 homers in the regular season, circled the bases following his 15th postseason homer.

The Yankees, who had been held to three hits over the first seven innings, were still exchanging hugs and high-fives when Stanton crushed a 1-2 slider from Clase, sending it over the center-field wall.

But even though they had the lead, the Yankees weren't taking anything for granted.

“I wouldn't say we were looking ahead to the World Series,” Judge said. “We still have another game, even if it was 3-0.”

Clase had been impeccable all season, allowing just five runs and recording 34 consecutive saves while dominating almost every time he took the mound. But he was tagged for a three-run homer in the ninth by Kerry Carpenter in the ALDS before Judge and Stanton got him within a span of eight pitches.

New York had two on with no outs in the ninth but scored just one run, on Gleyber Torres' sacrifice fly. Eli Morgan ended the inning by throwing a called third strike past Juan Soto.

Rookie Kyle Manzardo hit a two-run homer in the third for Cleveland.

The 30th postseason matchup between the Guardians and Yankees was another tightly contested matchup between two franchises who know each other well this time of year. This is their seventh meeting in the playoffs.

Cleveland finally got some length from a starter as Matthew Boyd went five innings, the most Vogt has permitted this postseason. The left-hander gave up two hits in the second before retiring 10 straight, seven on easy grounders.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: Reliever Ian Hamilton was lifted in the sixth inning after appearing to hurt himself while covering first base. The team said he had left calf tightness. ... Boone said LHP Nestor Cortes came through a brief batting practice pitching session on Wednesday without any issues. Cortes is recovering from an elbow strain and hasn’t pitched in a game since Sept. 18. If New York advances, he could be added to the World Series roster.

UP NEXT

Guardians RHP Gavin Williams will start Game 4, his first appearance of the postseason. The hard-throwing Williams had a disappointing regular season (3-10, 4.86 ERA), which began with him on the injured list for several months with an elbow issue. He’ll face Yankees RHP Luis Gil, who went 15-7 during the regular season.

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