HOW DOES NH TROOPER ESCAPE JAIL TIME IN BEATING CASE?
On Thursday, August 25,2016 A former New Hampshire state trooper pleaded guilty to three charges of simple assault. He and a trooper from Massachusetts were caught on camera beating and kneeing a man they were arresting.
He received a sentence of 12 months that was deferred and suspended. Meaning Trooper Andrew Monaco will not go to jail.
On May 11,2016 Troopers from Massachusetts and New Hampshire were pursuing Richard Simone on a 50-mile high-speed chase that started in Massachusetts and ended in New Hampshire.
Helicopter video showed Simone steeping out of his truck with his hands up and kneeling to the ground when officers started throwing punches and kneeing him.
Trooper Monaco was seen punching and kneeing Simone 12 times during the arrest as Simone laid on the ground helpless.
How a person only receives a 12 month suspended sentence for that type of assault is very disturbing. What kind of message is the Attorney General’s office sending to other troopers in New Hampshire? That you don’t have to worry about going to jail if you beat one of your suspects.
Assistant Attorney General Susan Morrell said “There are very few, if any police officers who’ve stood up in court, admitted what they did was wrong, what they did was a crime and what they did should disqualify them from being a police officer”. But what about saying sorry to the victim that he beat?
From the very beginning of this case the victim was never thought of as a victim. The troopers should have been indicted and been charged with a felony, not charged with simple assault. What they did was not simple. That decision was made by New Hampshire Attorney General Joseph Foster.
In a brief statement to the court, Monaco apologized to the public and his fellow troopers, but not to Simone. How often does the court and the Attorney General okay a plea deal to a defendant that doesn’t include jail time, especially, when the defendant doesn’t say sorry to his victim? I’ll bet not often. Unless you ‘re wearing a badge at the time of your incident maybe.