Possibility of Blanchette re-indictment in judge’s hands

LACONIA — A Belknap County prosecutor told a judge in Belknap Superior Court Thursday there is no reason former Belknap County Sheriff’s Deputy Ernest Justin Blanchette cannot be re-indicted for coercing female inmates to have sex.

“There are no extraordinary circumstances that would justify dismissing the charges with prejudice,” Assistant Belknap County Attorney Adam Woods told Judge James D. O’Neill III.

If O’Neill rules that the charges against Blanchette were dismissed with prejudice, it means they were dismissed permanently and cannot be brought back to court. If he concludes they were dismissed without prejudice, then the County Attorney’s Office could re-indict him.

In his motion, Woods asked O’Neill to clarify a 2017 ruling that dismissed four sexual assault cases against Blanchette, who had been indicted for using his position of authority to press female inmates into having sex with him or others during prisoner transports.

Woods said while the County Attorney’s Office has not made any decision about whether to go forward and re-indict Blanchette, “The state should be allowed to cure the deficiency (in the original indictments) and go ahead with the case.”

Blanchette was charged in 2016 in Belknap and Hillsborough counties with aggravated felonious sexual assault. He was tried and convicted in the Hillsborough County case and sentenced to 10-to-20 years in prison. In May 2017, the state Supreme Court threw out the conviction because state law which states that inmates cannot legally consent to sex with their overseers applies only to employees of detention facilities, and not to law enforcement officials who work for other agencies.

The Belknap County charges were pending at the time the Supreme Court's decision came down.

Blanchette’s attorney, Brad Davis, told O’Neill that re-charging his client on amended indictments “is not going to cure the employment issue in the statue” on which the Supreme Court decision was based.

O’Neill gave both sides an opportunity to review the court files in the four cases, but Woods and Davis said they saw no need for that.

“I’d rather deal with the matter now rather than go through a re-indictment now and have another charge dismissed” later on, Davis told the judge.

Blanchette was not present for the 15-minute hearing, and Davis told O’Neill that he had not any communication with his client recently.

O‘Neill said he was taking the matter under advisement, but gave no indication when he would issue a ruling.

One of the charges that O’Neill dismissed alleged that Blanchette raped a female inmate whom he was transporting to a dental appointment. Three other charges allege that Blanchette enabled a male inmate to have sex with the female inmate during the transport.

All of the alleged assaults occurred in 2013, according to the indictments.

To contact Michael Mortensen send him an email at mike@laconiadailysun.com.