Attorney J.P. Nedeau, left and his son Jay Nedeau talk about the recent arrest of his client Gary Dodds in Dover, N.H., Tuesday, May 6, 2008. Gary Dodds was convicted in February of falsifying evidence, creating a false public alarm and leaving the scene of an April 2006 crash. He was sentenced to 20 days in jail and a year of home confinement but was out on bail pending an appeal. Dodds was arrested Tuesday morning after his wife reported that he threw her to the floor.
(AP Photo/Jim Cole)
Once-missing NH candidate agrees to electronic monitoring
Attorney J.P. Nedeau, left and his son Jay Nedeau talk about the recent arrest of his client Gary Dodds in Dover, N.H., Tuesday, May 6, 2008. Gary Dodds was convicted in February of falsifying evidence, creating a false public alarm and leaving the scene of an April 2006 crash. He was sentenced to 20 days in jail and a year of home confinement but was out on bail pending an appeal. Dodds was arrested Tuesday morning after his wife reported that he threw her to the floor.
(AP Photo/Jim Cole)
CONCORD, N.H.—A former congressional candidate who was convicted of faking his own disappearance during the campaign will be released from jail but be subject to electronic monitoring for violating his bail conditions, his attorney said Wednesday.
Gary Dodds has been behind bars since Tuesday, when he was arrested after his wife reported that he had moved out of their home in Rye, been acting erratically and threw her to the floor during an argument.
A hearing to set new bail conditions had been set for Thursday, but lawyers reached an agreement that calls for Dodds to be monitored through a global-positioning system for 45 days. He also will be under a curfew that bars him from leaving home between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
"It was negotiated. His main concern was for his wife and his children and himself not to have to go through another public spectacle," said his attorney J.P. Nadeau.
Dodds' lawyer says his client also agreed to a mental health evaluation.
He was convicted in February of falsifying evidence, causing a false public alarm and leaving the scene of an April 2006 traffic crash that prosecutors said he staged to boost his faltering congressional campaign. He was never a serious contender and finished third in a four-way Democratic primary.
He claimed he hit his head in the crash and nearly drowned in a river before being found 27 hours later. Prosecutors said he spent at least part of that time inside, soaking his feet in cold water to make it appear he had been outdoors.
Dodds was sentenced in March to 20 days in jail and a year of home confinement. He was free pending a ruling on his appeal.
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