Anti Federalist
02-02-2011, 10:00 PM
A stinging rebuke from a fellow forum member caused me re-evaluate and try to find some rays of sunshine.
And lo and behold, I found one.
This was a local case, like the Aitken case in NJ, but with nowhere near the publicity.
The GOP/Liberty/FSP caucus in Concord is starting off well.
Bird freed, Executive Council reduces term for gun toter
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/907578-196/bird-freed-executive-council-reduces-term-for.html
CONCORD – The Executive Council with the support of Gov. John Lynch voted Wednesday to commute the rest of a three-year sentence for Ward Bird of Moultonborough, who was jailed for criminal threatening of a lost visitor in a case that has become highly controversial.
Lynch nullified a full pardon the council wanted to give Bird, which would have eliminated his 2009 felony conviction and allowed Bird to keep the nearly two dozen guns in his rural home.
“I am hesitant to substitute our judgment for what was a very comprehensive review by the judicial branch,” Lynch said. “I can’t support a full or complete pardon, but I can support something short of that to allow Ward Bird to return home as quickly as possible.”
The commutation keeps the felony crime on his record but eliminates the remaining year-plus Bird faced in jail time.
Arrangements were being made late Wednesday to release Bird from Carroll County Department of Corrections in Ossipee and allow him to return home without conditions.
Bird spent 77 days behind bars.
Bird’s attorney, Mark Sisti, thanked the councilors individually.
“This is really a very positive development,” Sisti said.
At a public hearing Tuesday, both Sisti and his client admitted that Bird should have testified at the trial, on charges that he waved a gun after Christine Harris came to the door looking for directions to land near Bird’s home.
Superior court judge Stephen Houran said he was bound by the minimum, mandatory sentence for Bird and would have meted out less punishment had he been able to do so.
Councilor David Wheeler, R-Milford, said he wanted to give Bird a full pardon, arguing that the trial jury did not hear about Harris’ past criminal record and similar claims she made against others.
The council voted 5-0 for pardon. After Lynch blocked it, Wheeler returned with the commutation idea and pointed out that Bird could return in the future with another pardon request.
And lo and behold, I found one.
This was a local case, like the Aitken case in NJ, but with nowhere near the publicity.
The GOP/Liberty/FSP caucus in Concord is starting off well.
Bird freed, Executive Council reduces term for gun toter
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/907578-196/bird-freed-executive-council-reduces-term-for.html
CONCORD – The Executive Council with the support of Gov. John Lynch voted Wednesday to commute the rest of a three-year sentence for Ward Bird of Moultonborough, who was jailed for criminal threatening of a lost visitor in a case that has become highly controversial.
Lynch nullified a full pardon the council wanted to give Bird, which would have eliminated his 2009 felony conviction and allowed Bird to keep the nearly two dozen guns in his rural home.
“I am hesitant to substitute our judgment for what was a very comprehensive review by the judicial branch,” Lynch said. “I can’t support a full or complete pardon, but I can support something short of that to allow Ward Bird to return home as quickly as possible.”
The commutation keeps the felony crime on his record but eliminates the remaining year-plus Bird faced in jail time.
Arrangements were being made late Wednesday to release Bird from Carroll County Department of Corrections in Ossipee and allow him to return home without conditions.
Bird spent 77 days behind bars.
Bird’s attorney, Mark Sisti, thanked the councilors individually.
“This is really a very positive development,” Sisti said.
At a public hearing Tuesday, both Sisti and his client admitted that Bird should have testified at the trial, on charges that he waved a gun after Christine Harris came to the door looking for directions to land near Bird’s home.
Superior court judge Stephen Houran said he was bound by the minimum, mandatory sentence for Bird and would have meted out less punishment had he been able to do so.
Councilor David Wheeler, R-Milford, said he wanted to give Bird a full pardon, arguing that the trial jury did not hear about Harris’ past criminal record and similar claims she made against others.
The council voted 5-0 for pardon. After Lynch blocked it, Wheeler returned with the commutation idea and pointed out that Bird could return in the future with another pardon request.