N.H. man convicted in officer's murder

Verdict could lead to death penalty

Addison showed no emotion as the verdict was announced.

MANCHESTER, N.H. - A New Hampshire jury convicted a man yesterday of the murder of a police officer, in a case that could result in the state's first execution in nearly 70 years.

Michael Addison, 28, showed no emotion as he was convicted of capital murder in the 2006 death of Manchester police Officer Michael Briggs, 35, whose wife and two young sons were in the courtroom. The verdict followed 12 1/2 hours of deliberations over three days.

Many police officers who were present burst into tears or let out a sigh of relief when they heard the verdict. Briggs's wife, Laura, smiled after the jurors left and hugged the prosecutors.

The defense conceded that Addison shot Briggs but contended that it was second-degree murder because he acted recklessly, not knowingly. Addison's lawyers left without commenting.

Prosecutors countered that Addison knew the police were after him and had told friends he would "pop a cop" if necessary to avoid arrest.

Jurors must now decide whether to sentence Addison to death or life in prison; they will return to court Monday to start that process.

The state's first capital murder verdict since 1959 was reached last month in the murder-for-hire case of millionaire John Brooks. Last week, that jury spared Brooks the death penalty and voted to send him to prison for life with no chance for parole.

The state's last execution was in 1939.

The key question in Addison's case was whether he acted knowingly or recklessly when he fired the fatal shot 15 minutes before Briggs's shift ended.

The defense acknowledged that Addison, who lives in Manchester, shot Briggs, but said the act was reckless and unintentional. In closing arguments, defense lawyer Caroline Smith said the jury should convict Addison of the lesser crime of second-degree murder.

"He did not think," she said. "He acted, and he ran."

She said a second-degree murder conviction, punishable by up to life in prison, would not diminish the tragedy of Briggs's death.

Prosecutor Will Delker argued that Addison's statements and actions before, during, and after the shooting show that he intended to kill.

"This crime didn't happen in an instant like the defense wants you to believe," Delker said. "The murder was just the final, fatal decision . . . in a series of choices he made along the way."

"It was a foregone conclusion," Delker said.

Police were looking for Addison and his friend Antoine Bell-Rogers because they were suspects in a series of recent shootings and armed robberies. They found the pair in an alley about 2:45 a.m. on Oct. 16, 2006. Police testified that Briggs told them to stop three times before he was shot.

At the time of his arrest, Addison was described in court documents as an unemployed father of two children, ages 2 and 8.

In 2004, a federal judge in Massachusetts, which has no death penalty, designated New Hampshire as the site for the execution of a man convicted of a two-state killing spree in 2001. Gary Sampson, a drifter from Abington, is in a federal prison in Indiana while his case is on appeal.