The System Exonerates Jonathan Evans

Originally published at freeconcord.org:

It is not often that an active duty law enforcement officer faces trial for a criminal complaint. But there is little that is typical of the recent case of Jonathan Evans, a Hill, New Hampshire police sergeant who faced misdemeanor charges for his role in the theft of a leather vest from a Concord storefront. There is no known video of the encounter between store owner Brian Blackden and five members of the motorcycle club, the ‘road dawgs’, but from the picture painted in court by witnesses and police, their actions blurred the line between a club and a gang, and exemplified that there are classes of men in modern society.

Prosecutor John Webb

The minutiae brought to surface surrounding an underground police organization remained intriguing throughout the nearly three hour ordeal. The Concord courtroom was host to a range of characters from around NH. Stemming from an incident involving police officers from everywhere in the state but Concord, CPD officers were the primary investigators and the first three witnesses called at trial. The single, B-misdemeanor charge of theft was prosecuted by Cheshire county assistant attorney John Webb, and heard by Concord district court judge Gerald Boyle. Witnesses to speak were three Concord police officers, the storefront neighbor of the victim, the store owner (victim), and the defendant, Jonathan Evans. Evans was represented by Eric Wilson of wbdklaw.com. (more…)

UL and Monitor Publish Scathing Critiques of State v Evans

Today the Union Leader’s editorial board published an anonymous review of the recent case of State v Jonathan Evans. Evans stood accused of acting in concert with other members of the “road dawgs” motorcycle club to steal a vest from a Concord store on May 21, 2011. The harsh critique of the not guilty finding in the case comes just over a week after the UL published an objective article overviewing the case. Coverage of the trial is also available from the Concord Monitor.

I videographed the trial last week and have made the full video available at the FreeConcordTV youtube channel. Below is the editorial published in today’s Sunday News. Check back tomorrow for an original article on the trial from Free Concord. (more…)