Out of jail - Gilford man whose case ended in mistrial freed

By GAIL OBER, LACONIA DAILY SUN

LACONIA — A Gilford man whose sexual assault trial ended with a hung jury earlier this week was freed from the Belknap County House of Corrections Thursday after a circuit court judge granted him personal recognizance bail for violations that allege he called the woman eight times while he was incarcerated.

The eight charges of breach of bail against Carroll Thompson, 45, were brought forward by the Laconia Police in November. He was charged after the alleged victim told the police about the calls about a month before she was scheduled to testify against him.

His bail for the violations was set by 4th Circuit Court, Laconia Division Presiding Justice Jim Carroll at $5,000 cash-only. Since he was already being held on $25,000 cash for the alleged sexual assault, his defense team didn't make any bail argument when he was charged in November.

Following a hearing on Wednesday in Superior Court, Thompson's bail was reset at $10,000 personal recognizance but his circuit court charges are still pending, as were the bail conditions, so he spent an additional night in jail. Since one court allowed for his release on Wednesday, Thompson was entitled to a quick bail hearing in the other court on the bail violation charges.

Thompson's attorney Eric Wolpin told the judge Thursday about the circumstances of the the mistrial and asked for personal recognizance bail on the eight alleged bail violations. He said that Thompson did not come from a wealthy family and that he would be living in Gilford with his mother.

Laconia City Prosecutor Jim Sawyer said he wouldn't oppose the requested bail reduction because of prior case law. Judge Carroll said that Thompson must still abide by all of the bail conditions set by the Superior Court judge, including that he go to the Belknap County Restorative Justice Department immediately upon release for bail supervision.

Thompson was tried last week for two counts of rape but the jury reported back that it could not reach a unanimous decision and that 11 of 12 jurors voted for acquittal. The court declared a mistrial, but the charges against him still stand.

It is not known if the Belknap County Attorney's office will retry Thompson and, if so, on what charges.