The Berlin Daily Sun, Thursday, December 15, 2011

Page 1

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2011

VOL. 20 NO. 157

BERLIN, N.H.

752-5858

FREE

Conviction of sex offender sentenced to 114 years overturned BY MELISSA GRIMA THE BERLIN DAILY SUN

CONCORD -- The N.H. Supreme Court, on Wednesday, overturned the Coos County Superior Court 2010 conviction of Robert Towle, 40, of Berlin on eight charges of child sex offenses. Towle had been found guilty by a jury, of four counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault and four counts of criminal liability for the conduct of another relating to his use of an accomplice in the assaults. In a 3-2 decision, the justices determined that Towle had improperly been denied the right to represent himself at trial. Therefore, the verdict and subsequent 114 year sentence, was vacated and the matter was remanded back to Superior Court for a new trial. Coos County Attorney, Robert Mekeel, who initially prosecuted the case that resulted in the longest sentence Judge Peter Bornstein could ever remember handing down, said he was “very much”

disappointed by the high court’s decision. A retrial is planned, he said, though he had not yet even had a chance to confer with the Attorney General’s office since reading the decision, he said Wednesday afternoon. During the initial trial, evidence was presented against Towle asserting that he and female accomplices had engaged in a pattern of abuse against a child between the ages of 11 and 13 from 2004 to 2006. His accomplice, Katie Wilmot, 30, of Berlin, pled guilty on August 4, 2009 to aggravated sexual assault. She was sentenced to three and a half, to seven years all suspended, on the conditions of five years good behavior, five years of probation and that she testify truthfully in Mr. Towle’s trial. This isn’t Towle’s first victory on appeal. At the time of his sentencing in March of 2010, Mr. Towle had been incarcerated since 2006 on an habitual offender charge see OVERTURNED page 26

Training requirement could stymie special police team BY MELISSA GRIMA THE BERLIN DAILY SUN

BERLIN — The only special operations police team in the North Country, and first regional team of it’s kind in the state, could face some high hurdles as a result of new rules governing such teams that may double the amount of training hours required.

Berlin Police Chief Peter Morency told the police commission at their December meeting that the Berlin Special Operation Unit (similar to a Special Weapons And Tactics-SWAT) could be in jeopardy due to new rules pending before the state Attorney General’s see STYMIE page 27

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Santa and Mrs. Claus, aka Dennis Mann and Sheila Williams, dropped off $11,000 worth of toys to the Salvation Army’s toy assistance program. Kids, like this young boy, also got to sit on Santa’s lap and tell him what they would like for Christmas and promised to be good\ boys and girls. (BARBARA TETREAULT PHOTO).

A real life Santa and Mrs. Claus come to town BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN

BERLIN – A real life Santa and Mrs. Claus dropped off a load of toys for boys and girls at the Salvation Army yesterday. Dennis Mann and Sheila Williams of Smithfield, R.I. delivered about $11,000 worth of toys and gifts to be distributed to needy children in the area. The couple, dressed as the Mr. and Mrs. Claus, greeted shoppers in the downtown before Santa

handed out candy and small gifts to youngsters from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Salvation Army. This is the sixth year the pair have brought toys to the Salvation Army in Berlin. After donating quietly for five years, the couple decided to publicize their generosity this year in hopes of inspiring others. Mann revealed that as a young boy he was a recipient of the Salvation Army program. He grew up on Church Street in Berlin, the oldest see SANTA page 27

Rec. Dept. first up in Gorham budget cross hairs BY GAIL SCOTT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN

GORHAM—Gorham Recreation Director Jeff Stewart was on the budget committee hot seat Tuesday in the Gorham town hall. Stewart was grilled on the town’s recreation and culture budget for about an hour, emerging relatively unscathed but on his way to gather more detailed information about precise hours spent by a recreation part time employee on mowing

Boutique at 101

and other maintenance tasks for the department, to double check for more money saving measures such as turning off the lights on the tennis courts, now that night comes so early, to maintain a precise chart of expenditure for vehicle fuel purchases, and to strive to find a way for the recreation department office to be moved to the town hall to obviate the costs of maintaining the present recreation department office in a trailer,

101 Main St., Gorham, NH 466-5811

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