06 May 2019 :

Gov. Chris Sununu has vetoed HB 455, a bill to repeal the death penalty, but the measure is expected to prevail in the Legislature, which passed it with veto-proof majorities this session. The Republican governor was surrounded by law enforcement officers in a ceremony in Manchester on Friday as he called the bill an injustice to slain police officer Michael Briggs, law enforcement, and victims of violent crimes. The repeal would not apply retroactively to Michael Addison, who killed Briggs in 2006 and is the state's only death row inmate. But supporters of capital punishment argue courts could see it differently. Sununu vetoed a similar bill last year. The Legislature did not have enough votes to override him. But momentum grew after Democrats won control of both the House and Senate in November, and repeal advocates indicated that an overrride effort is anticipated later in May. A two-thirds vote in each house is required to override. On March 7, the House voted 279-88 in favor of repeal, and the State Senate voted 17-6 on April 11 to pass the repeal bill. New Hampshire last carried out an execution in 1939. It has imposed one death sentence since reinstating the death penalty in 1991, sentencing Michael Addison to death in 2008 for the murder of Officer Briggs.