A New Hampshire Ponzi Scheme Uncovered? By Claire Best
May 29, 2024 By Claire Best
The first civil lawsuit in over a thousand cases of alleged child sexual assault and other abuse brought by victims of the New Hampshire Youth Detention Center against the state has just concluded.
A civil jury awarded David Meehan, the plaintiff, $38 million dollars. The attorney for the State, Brandon Chase for DCYF — the NH Division for Children, Youth and Families — quickly responded that it was only going to pay out $475,000 due to a cap for each incident and since only one box was filled by the jury, the State has interpreted that as only one incident.
Over the weekend, the attorneys for David Meehan filed a motion for an emergency hearing with the judge regarding the discrepancy.
They included emails from jurors who had contacted them after the jurors saw the state’s announcement about the cap on WMUR — the local news station.
The jurors had been given instructions by the judge, not the attorneys.
They would have also been briefed on what they could and could not do as jurors. One of the Frequently Asked Questions paragraphs on the State’s website for jurors is “When can I discuss the case?”
The answer is: “As soon as the verdict is over you can discuss it with anyone except the attorneys and interested parties.”
David Vicinanzo and Russ Rilee were the lead attorneys for David Meehan. Vicinanzo is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and a former Federal Prosecutor. He is also a partner at Nixon Peabody which is the law firm of former New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon MacDonald who is now the New Hampshire Supreme Court Chief Justice.
Attorneys Gordon MacDonald and David Vicinanzo previously represented the Diocese of Manchester when it shelled out millions for alleged abuse by priests following the framing of Father Gordon MacRae by Police Officer James F McLaughlin.
He first went after the priest with a bogus story given to him by Sylvia Gale who worked with DCYF which has now been found liable for $38 million for wanton abuse in the 90s — concurrent with the timing of Father Gordon MacRae’s trial and failed appeal.
Gordon MacDonald’s application to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, where he now presides as Chief Justice, fails to mention the fact that he is still listed at Nixon Peabody as agent for a company managed by former NH Senator Gordon Humphrey who he designated as a referee.
Another referee is Justice John T. Broderick — the man who denied Father Gordon MacRae’s appeal in 1996.
Justice Broderick is overseeing the settlement payouts for claims against the Youth Detention Center from a $100 million fund established by the State for that purpose. He has been on a book tour with a volume he wrote about mental health which he claims was overlooked when his son attacked him with a guitar one night (landing the son in prison for several years).
Gordon MacDonald has been on the tour with him. The same names come up again and again in a close knit “club” whose members are the same now as they were thirty years ago. David Vicinanzo and Russ Rilee are apparently very happy that Justice Broderick is overseeing the claim settlements for the Youth Detention Center Cases. $66 million has been paid out thus far.
Keeping a lower profile but getting fast settlements is their other pal from the Diocese days: Chuck Douglas Esq. Chuck Douglas is also Chair of the New Hampshire Judicial Selection Committee.
Meanwhile, Brandon Chase who is acting as attorney for the State and DCYF against Vicinanzo and Rilee, is also listed as one of the attorneys in the closed door hearings for former Detective James F McLaughlin and his fight as "John Doe vs Keene Police et al" to keep his list of crimes hidden from public view on the State's Laurie List of officers with credibility issues.
Keeping it in the family is a must for this crowd. Blowing the lid on it all is a must for the public or anyone that cares about true justice as opposed to fake justice.
Lobbying by non-profits and financially interested parties has led the State’s Executive Council to release federal funds under the guise of training for police, prosecutors, victim specialists. But in fact, there is a clear pattern that demonstrates it is being released for self-dealing or gaming the system by this clique.
There is no doubt that abusive conduct by public officials — to whom children and young adults have been referred by state agencies who publicly advertise to be looking after their best interests — is the norm, not the exception and has been for decades.
The AG’s office has been criticized for its conflict of interests in the YDC cases but what is coming to light now is the way in which the self-dealing happens that enables bribery, extortion, abuse and cover ups.
I was shocked to find out that Joelle Wiggin, the “victim specialist“ for David Meehan and employed by Nixon Peabody for this purpose, went straight from working for the State and the NHCADSV — the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence — to working for the law firm.
Between the law firm and the victims’ advocates/NHCADSV, up to 55% of each settlement will be taken before the plaintiffs see a cent. The NHCADSV and Nixon Peabody managed to get the state to free up funds to train the victims’ specialists, to train the investigators, to pay for the pretrial publicity, to lift the statute of limitations for civil claims.
Polish it off with a touch of David Vicinanzo who has all bases covered between Gordon MacDonald on the Supreme Court and Vicinanzo's son who clerked for the First Circuit Judge (who was N.H. Attorney General during the time of David Meehan’s alleged abuse at YDC). Matthew Vicinanzo is currently an Assistant US Attorney under Jane Young who was Assistant Attorney General under Gordon MacDonald.
Nobody, among the powers that be in the courts, can point me to the Statute or laws that allow self-dealing by Lobbyists using public funds, police, prosecutors, media. That’s because there aren’t any.
The NHCADSV has published a guide on pretrial publicity. It’s a practice that James F McLaughlin knew in the 1980’s as he used the Keene Sentinel newspaper as his ally. One of McLaughlin's 1988 police reports actually revealed that “Paul Montgomery, a Keene Sentinel reporter, is assisting in this investigation as a private citizen.
He said that he would see what information he could find about the subject.” The “subject” referred to was Father Gordon MacRae. The Keene Sentinel did not publish an article about McLaughlin’s federal entrapment in 1995, ruled on as such by the First Circuit in 1998.
David Vicinanzo, Gordon MacDonald, the Diocese of Manchester and U.S. Attorney Jane Young are completely unbothered by all this. Just as they were not bothered by the fraud perpetrated by former Monsignor Edward Arsenault in 2014.
If everyone is in on the get rich quick game, there is little incentive to find justice, to find the truth, or to do what is right. The money is just too good.
Coincidentally, one of New Hampshire’s Supreme Court Justices who has served on the Governor’s Domestic and Sexual Violence Committee alongside members of the NHCADSV, has just been recused from an unrelated case before the Supreme Court.
No reason was given but it happened after I questioned the Judicial Conduct Committee about financial disclosures for Barbara Hantz Marconi and Gordon MacDonald in relationship to their personal interest in their respective law firms. Did Gordon MacDonald refer victims of YDC abuse to the NHCADSV due to his own interest in Nixon Peabody, their “pro bono” legal counsel?
“Pro bono” is short for “Pro bono publico” — for the public good.