Judge Explores Alternative Solutions to Contest Verdict in Abuse Trial at NH Youth Center as AG Seeks Caps on Damages

Judge David Meehan, who presided over a trial regarding abuse at New Hampshire’s youth detention centre, has stated that although he won’t reconvene the jury, he will explore alternative solutions to address the disputed $38 million verdict. Meehan, who claimed to have been repeatedly raped, beaten, and held in solitary confinement in the 1990s, received $18 million in compensatory damages and $20 million in enhanced damages on May 3. However, the attorney general’s office is attempting to lower the award to a maximum of $475,000 per “incident” through a state law. Meehan’s legal team requested that Judge Andrew Schulman reconvene the jury to clarify that multiple episodes of abuse were being considered, but Schulman declined, citing intense media coverage and criticism of the initial verdict. Instead, Schulman suggested a method used in a 1985 New Hampshire Supreme Court case, whereby a trial judge could increase damages beyond the original jury award if the defendant consented to a new trial. Meehan’s case was the first to go to trial among over 1,100 former residents of the facility who have since filed lawsuits alleging physical, sexual, and emotional abuse spanning six decades. The state argued that the conduct of rogue employees was not their responsibility and that Meehan’s claims were fabricated. The defence further argued that Meehan had waited too long to bring legal action.