New Hampshire Supreme Court Rejects Michael Addison’s Petition To Review Death Sentence

The New Hampshire Supreme Court is dismissing a petition to review the death penalty sentence for Michael Addison.

He was convicted of capital murder in the 2006 shooting death of a Manchester Police Officer Michael Briggs.

Addison’s attorneys argued that his sentence goes against the state’s contemporary values because it abolished the death penalty in 2019. However, in her decision, Justice Melissa Countway says that the statute abolishing the death penalty specifies that it only applies to sentences handed down on or after the date that the statute became active.

NH Governor Kelly Ayotte, who prosecuted Addison when she was attorney general, released a statement reiterating her support for the death penalty for Addison. Manchester Police Chief Peter Marr also supports the decision.