New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan is running for the US Senate, and is considered a serious threat to Senator Kelly Ayotte. If her record as governor is any is any indicator of her values, we should all be worried. As Bill McMorris notes:
New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan tapped a public defender with a history of trying to get child rapists off on technicalities for a vacant judgeship.
Manchester public defender Dorothy Graham, whom Hassan nominated to the Superior Court, has twice attempted to reduce the sentences of child rapists on technicalities and, in one case, a “clerical error.” She took those cases all the way to the New Hampshire Supreme Court with mixed success.
In 2011, she appealed the 2009 conviction of Hector Ortiz, who was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison for repeatedly raping and sexually assaulting his girlfriend’s daughter.
“The pediatrician who examined the victim testified that he examined her ‘to evaluate her for an allegation of sexual abuse.’ The victim ‘was about 10 years old’ at the time. The pediatrician asked the victim if the defendant ‘had put his penis inside her; she said yes.’ He asked her ‘if this had happened before, and she shyly said yes,’” the decision says.
She attempted to reduce his sentence to 10 years, citing a clerical error that led the judge to misread his punishment and also argued to waive the testimony of a retired detective. Graham did not dispute that Ortiz was guilty of the offenses. The Supreme Court affirmed the sentence and dismissed Graham’s arguments.
Graham has a long history of vigorously defending child rapists that voters have a right to know about. She currently trails Ayotte by 4 points in the RCP Average of polling. New Hampshire voters should know about this outrage. Spread the word!
AAN Staff
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