New Hampshire v. Hanes

Defendant Michael Hanes appealed after a jury convicted him for improper influence. The charges arose over Pembroke New Hampshire's Department of Public Works plowed the town's roads and sidewalks; defendant contacted David Jodoin, town administrator, and complained about the snow removal on his street and the fact that he had been “plowed in.” Defendant left an expletive-laden voicemail for Jodoin. Jodoin testified that defendant’s message “started out pretty calm, reasonable, and then it just went from like zero to 60 and accelerated within like three seconds. It was loud, yelling, screaming, threatening, wanted somebody fired, and then the threats came in.” After listening to the message, Jodoin contacted the police because “[a]ny time anybody . . . threatens another individual, that . . . becomes a police issue,” and because he was concerned about the safety of town employees. Defendant argued on appeal there was insufficient evidence to sustain the verdict, that the speech underlying his conviction enjoyed constitutional protection, and that the trial court committed plain error in failing to sua sponte strike part of a witness’s testimony. Finding no reversible error, the New Hampshire Supreme Court affirmed. View "New Hampshire v. Hanes" on Justia Law