Inmate says he's changed; state, victim don't buy it

LACONIA — Richard Edson deserves to be freed from prison, his attorney argued in court Wednesday.

“The goal of his sentence has been met,” attorney Colin Sandiford told Judge Larry Smukler during a hearing in Belknap Superior Court.

“Please don’t let him out,” said Judith Estes, the former Belmont police officer who was beaten by Edson when she attempted to arrest him following a traffic stop in 2013.

Whether Edson, 51, will be released early is now in the hands of a judge.

But Estes, the officer Edson was convicted of assaulting 16 years ago, pleaded with the judge to make Edson serve the full minimum of his 22½- to 65-year prison sentence.

The hearing was attended by members of Edson’s family, along with a dozen police officers and Belknap County Attorney Andrew Livernois and one of his assistant prosecutors.

Edson has been in State Prison since 2004 when he was found guilty of second-degree assault, DWI, and driving after being certified a habitual offender.

According to testimony during his trial, Edson, a professional boxer, pummeled Estes as she attempted to arrest him for drunk driving on March 13, 2003.

During the 45-minute hearing, Sandiford called his client a changed man.

“We’re not here to argue that he didn’t warrant the punishment he received or to argue that the sentence he received wasn’t just. We’re here to argue that he had been reformed,” the attorney said.

He listed the various counseling and treatment programs Edson has taken part in during his time in prison, and told the judge that the sentence has satisfied the need for adequate deterrence, rehabilitation and punishment.

“Sixteen and a half years is enough to get the message across,” Sandiford said, noting Edson’s sentence was comparable to that handed out in a manslaughter case.

But Assistant County Attorney Keith Cormier told the judge that this was the second time Edson had been sent to prison for seriously assaulting a police officer. In 1986, he ran over then-Laconia Police Office Thomas Drouin with a motorcycle.

“He was a model inmate (back then) as well. And what did he do?” Cormier asked rhetorically. The prosecutor then enumerated 10 felony and misdemeanor charges Edson was convicted of between 1990 and 2001, which resulted in one prison sentence and three terms of confinement in the county House of Correction.

“Mr. Edson is a person with a very violent history and a history of assaulting police officers,” Cormier said.

Speaking in his own defense, Edson told the judge the current prison term has been a godsend.

“If it wasn’t for you,” he told Smukler, who presided at Edson’s trial and handed down the sentence, “I wouldn’t be going to heaven,” a reference to his religious conversion while in prison.

He apologized for the injuries he caused to Estes, as well as to Drouin, who was seated in the courtroom.

But Estes, who is now a detective with the Belknap County Sheriff’s Department, told the court that the injuries Drouin suffered because of Edson were so serious that they ended Drouin’s career in law enforcement.

“I don’t want anyone to forget what happened to Drouin,” Estes said, continuing: “You didn’t destroy my career, and I sure as hell want to make sure you don’t destroy any other officer’s career either.”

Edson’s fiancee, Selina Hilliard of Laconia, told the judge Edson is a changed man.

“He’s not the same man he used to be. He’s changed and deserves another chance at life,” she said.

Sandiford told the court that even if the judge decided to suspend the remainder of his minimum sentence, he would still need to be paroled by the Parole Board; and assuming Edson were paroled this year, he would remain on parole until age 95.