NH Supreme Court upholds Clay convictions

ALTON — The state Supreme Court on Thursday upheld town government critic Jeffrey Clay’s convictions for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, stemming from his behavior at a 2017 selectmen’s meeting.

A three-judge panel unanimously ruled that Clay disobeyed a lawful order when he failed to heed the head selectmen’s instruction to confine his remarks to an agenda item during the Feb. 22, 2017, selectmen’s meeting, and further that his failure to leave the meeting peaceably with a police officer constituted resisting arrest.

Clay said he was “incredibly disappointed” with the ruling, adding: “It should have a chilling effect on everyone in the state of New Hampshire.”

“We are pleased with the court’s unanimous ruling,” Town Administrator Elizabeth Dionne said. “The facts of the case speak for themselves.”

Clay has maintained that his comments should be protected because they are within the bounds of free speech. But the court found that the Board of Selectmen’s rules delineating public input were legitimate, and that Clay had violated them.

“... (Clay’s) intent (at the selectmen’s meeting) had evolved from discussion of any specific agenda item into an effort to confront the board with invective, either to test their limits or provoke them to take some action under the rules,” Senior Associate Justice Gary Hicks wrote for the court.

After Thursday’s ruling was released Clay said the rules for public participation at the Alton selectmen’s meetings are being applied selectively and that the decision to enforce the rules in his case were “retaliation for my criticism of the board.”

“I’m being singled out,” he said.

Clay said the ruling amounting to an overreach on the court’s part.

“The criminalizing of innocuous public rules violations and the granting of reasonable suspicion to police New Hampshire officers to detain or arrest citizens for these violations should send shockwaves throughout New Hampshire,” he said.

In appealing the case to the Supreme Court, Clay’s attorney Jared Bedrick argued his client should not have been charged with disorderly conduct because Alton police Officer William Tolios apparently acted only on the instructions of then-Selectmen Chairman Cydney Johnson, rather than exercising his independent judgment as a law enforcement officer that Clay had in fact broken the law.

But the court rejected that view, finding that when the case was tried in Laconia District Court there was ample evidence that Clay was warned multiple times that he needed to leave the meeting, and that he tussled with the arresting officer as the officer was trying to lead him out of the meeting room.

As part of his conviction District Court Judge Michael Garner fined Clay $600 ($300 on each charge), plus a $144 penalty assessment.

“I’m going to pay the fine,” Clay said. He went on to say that he will not be attending any more selectmen’s meetings.

“They’re trying to intimidate me. My rights to go (to their meetings) are being curtailed indefinitely,” he said.

But Clay said the matter is not over.

“I hope my lawyer will join with me in filing a suit against the board for retaliation,” he said. He said he had not talked with lawyer about this, but planned to do so.