No Looking Backwards: Nailing It

From the New Hampshire Union Leader:

NH prosecutors: Soft time in Mass.

MANCHESTER – New Hampshire crime fighters are dissatisfied with the soft touch they say criminals get in Massachusetts courts, and accused cop-killer Michael K. "Stix" Addison appears to be the latest example.

As Manchester Deputy Police Chief Glenn S. Leidemer, who heads the department's investigative division, puts it: "I'm a police officer. I'm not impartial. What I would ask of the media is to lay out all the facts and circumstances surrounding (Addison's) arrests in Massachusetts, compare those to the sentences and then they -- the community -- can make an informed decision as to whether the sentences were too lenient."

Manchester Police Chief John A. Jaskolka said his officers increasingly encounter current and former Massachusetts residents here who, though they have prior criminal histories in the Bay State, lack the conviction records required to get punishments or set bail consistent with their past behavior.

"A lot of the time we end up with people coming from Massachusetts. They seem to be getting lenient sentences...When we go for a tougher sentence up here, (the courts) don't have the criminal background to do it," Jaskolka explained.

Hillsborough County Attorney Marguerite L. Wageling said it's difficult to pass judgment on how other jurisdictions handle prosecutions without knowing the strengths and weaknesses of their cases.

Even so, she said "I've seen multiple Massachusetts records that are lengthy with virtually no time imposed on the individual."