Emanuel Hearing Monday

A hearing will be held before justice Arthur Robbins in Concord District Court this morning to determine whether Tom Emanuel is mentally competent to stand trial on many of the approximately 63 outstanding criminal charges, including five felonies, pending against him.

In his motion to dismiss the charges, Peter Brunette, who represents the 37-year-old Laconia man, explained last week that twice — once in November 2003 and again in June 2004 — Emanuel has been found not competent to stand trial. In February 2004 Emanuel was committed to New Hampshire Hospital for five years, subject to conditional discharge. Emanuel was granted a discharge this past summer but has been charged with more crimes since his release. He is presently back at the hospital, confined to a secure ward.

Brunette maintains that based on past experience and clinical evidence, the state cannot demonstrate that Emanuel's competence can be restored within a year and he concludes that all pending charges should be dismissed.

Brunette further contends that without an assurance of Emanuel's right to a speedy trial on the charges, they should be dismissed. Although the majority of the charges date from 2002 and 2003, Brunette said trial dates have never been scheduled, prejudicing Emanuel's right to a speedy trial. "Given the sheer number of charges, the busy docket of the Court, and the likelihood that few or none of the cases would be consolidated for trial, the process of trying these cases would result in additional delays of additional months or even years."