Nashua police photo Santos Cerritos, 56, last known address 66 Ward St., Manchester

NASHUA – Nearly eight months have passed since a Superior Court judge granted Santos Cerritos’ motion for a new trial in his 2014 sex-assault case, and unless the court schedule changes, another six months will pass before that new trial gets underway.

By April 2017, Cerritos, now 56, with a last known address in Manchester, had been arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to a term of 10 to 20 years in State Prison on two counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault, charges that stemmed from allegations that he sexually molested a young girl.

The girl brought the allegations to her parents, who in turn notified police, who arrested Cerritos in September 2014. He was indicted on the two aggravated sexual assault counts two months later.

According to recently-filed documents in Cerritos’ case file regarding his new trial, a trial management conference is scheduled for April 10 in Hillsborough County Superior Court-South. Jury selection is set for April 20, with the trial itself to get underway within two weeks of the jury being seated.

The jury in Cerritos’ first trial, which took place in February 2017, convicted him on the two charges. Two months later, in an emotional hearing during which the alleged victim addressed the court, Cerritos was sentenced to the term of 10 to 20 years. He departed the courtroom in the custody of sheriff’s deputies to prepare for transport to the prison.

Cerritos was coming up on two years behind bars when he was returned to the same courtroom for a hearing on his motion for a new trial.

Judge Charles Temple, citing missteps by Cerritos’ trial lawyer that included a failure to consult forensic experts and settling on a “reasonable doubt” strategy without considering the possibility of challenging the prosecution’s forensic evidence,” would ultimately grant Cerritos’ motion.

In his 14-page order, Temple concluded that “deficient performance (by Cerritos’ trial attorney) actually prejudiced the outcome of (Cerritos’) trial.”

Temple wrote that the attorney’s “understanding of the forensic evidence was flawed,” and his decision to not consult with experts contributed to Temple’s finding that the lawyer’s missteps met the standard for ineffective representation of counsel.

Attorney Jeffrey Odlund, a public defender who represented Cerritos at the hearing, successfully motioned for Cerritos’ release from prison pending the new trial, to which the prosecution objected.

Cerritos “should not be released for a couple of reasons,” First Assistant County Attorney Kent Smith said at the hearing. “One, he’s a danger to the community … the family is extremely worried about the risk he poses,” Smith said, referring to the family of the alleged victim.

“Also, he presents a flight risk, because he knows he could go back to prison” if he’s convicted at his second trial, Smith added.

Odlund rejected Smith’s assertions, citing “ample evidence” Cerritos “is not a danger. He’s had no issues that would cause his bail to be revoked. And he has no (criminal) history before this,” Odlund said.

Temple also agreed to rescind the two guilty verdicts the jury delivered in early February 2017, and vacated the sentencing order that required Cerritos to register as a sex offender for life.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256, or at dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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