Greater Nashua
Lawyer defending New Hampshire in youth center abuse trial attacks former resident's credibility
BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) — A lawyer defending the state of New Hampshire against abuse allegations at its youth detention center attacked the plaintiff's credibility Monday, suggesting he was a troublemaker who was appropriately punished as a teen and is now a delusional adult seeking a payout. David Meehan, 42, who says he was repeatedly raped, beaten and locked in solitary confinement at the Youth Development Center in Manchester in the late 1990s, went to police in 2017 and sued the state three years later. Since then, 11 former state workers have been arrested, and more than 1,100 former residents have filed lawsuits claiming the state's negligence allowed abuse spanning six decades. Meehan's lawsuit was the first to go to trial earlier this month. He returned to the witness stand Monday to face further cross-examination by Martha Gaythwaite, a Maine lawyer representing the ...