Attorneys for Michael Addison, the only person on New Hampshire’s death row, submitted a new appeal to the New Hampshire Supreme Court on October 30 seeking to overturn his death sentence. The appeal is supported by a brief from the American Civil Liberties Union, which argues that Addison’s punishment was influenced by racial disparities and should be reconsidered in light of the state’s 2019 repeal of the death penalty.
Addison, a Black man, was sentenced to death in 2008 for the 2006 shooting of Manchester Police Officer Michael Briggs. Briggs had confronted Addison while responding to a domestic disturbance. Addison fled and shot Briggs in the head. The officer died the next day.
In its amicus curiae brief, the ACLU of New Hampshire and the national ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project contended that Addison’s sentence was inconsistent with those handed down in similar cases involving white defendants. They cited two other high-profile murder cases: John Brooks, convicted of hiring accomplices to kill a man in 2006, and Gordon Perry, who shot and killed a police officer in 1998. Both men, who are white, received life sentences. The ACLU argues that these disparities could imply racial bias in Addison’s prosecution and sentencing.
“One cannot hand wave these racial disparities,” the brief stated. A proper proportionality review, they argued, must consider whether a death sentence was imposed arbitrarily or due to impermissible factors such as race.
The brief also referenced broader studies showing racial disparities in death penalty convictions nationwide. A 2014 study in Washington State found Black defendants were 4.5 times more likely than white defendants to receive a death sentence for comparable crimes.
Addison’s legal team is also challenging the constitutionality of his sentence based on the 2019 repeal of New Hampshire’s capital punishment law. Though the repeal specifies it applies only to crimes committed after the effective date, attorneys argue it reflects a “profound shift in community values.” Defendants convicted of the same crime today would face life imprisonment, not execution.
“Executing Addison now would be excessive or disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases,” the defense wrote in their brief.
The New Hampshire Supreme Court has previously rejected similar appeals from Addison’s team in 2013 and 2015. In both rulings, the court upheld the death sentence after comparing Addison’s case to similar ones in four other states.
However, Addison’s attorneys are now citing legal precedent from Connecticut and New Mexico, where state supreme courts ruled that repeals of the death penalty also invalidated standing death sentences. The ACLU brief noted that no state has carried out an execution after repealing capital punishment. If Addison is executed, New Hampshire would be the first to do so.
The Attorney General’s Office has not yet filed its response to the latest appeal. In September, the state Supreme Court agreed to accept briefs from both sides on the impact of the 2019 repeal.
Kelly Ayotte, who led the state’s prosecution of Addison while serving as attorney general from 2006 to 2008, has publicly opposed efforts to overturn the sentence. In a statement, she said, “Addison, a career criminal, murdered Manchester Police Officer Michael Briggs in cold blood, and he should face the death sentence imposed by a jury of his peers and upheld by the New Hampshire Supreme Court.” Ayotte added that altering the outcome would “be a grave injustice and an insult to Officer Briggs’ family and law enforcement.”
Some legislators supportive of capital punishment have pre-filed bills ahead of the 2026 session aiming to reinstate the death penalty in New Hampshire. Governor Ayotte has indicated she would back efforts to restore the law.
The state’s highest court will now consider whether the combination of the 2019 repeal and evidence of racial disparity merit overturning Addison’s sentence. The decision could determine whether New Hampshire maintains its last active death sentence or ends its use of capital punishment entirely. For more tech and policy news, follow the Dartmouth Independent.
