To the Editor:
I believe that your article "Srimurthy '95 found guilty of sexual assault" (Mar. 27, 1995) was entirely misleading.
From reading the article, a number of colleagues and I were led to believe that Srimurthy had a trial in Hanover District Court, that the alleged victim gave testimony in that trial and that the trial resulted in a guilty verdict.
To see if this were indeed the case, I called Srimurthy's attorney Charlie Buttrey, who said that nothing could be further from the truth. "We got just what we wanted," said Buttrey, explaining that Srimurthy waived his trial at District Court in order to appeal directly to the Superior Court, so as to have a jury trial. This is a standard procedure, in accordance with with the New Hampshire District Court Rules, number 2.14, " Appeal to Superior Court after waiver of trial," which states, in its entirety, that:
"In all prosecutions for misdemeanors and violations, the Court, in its discretion, may allow the defendant, upon advice of counsel, to plead not guilty, waive the presentation of evidence by the State, and the presentation of his defense. The Court shall require the prosecution to make an offer of proof. The Court may then find the defendant guilty and impose sentence. The defendant may then appeal to the Superior Court."
Your article did not even mention that Srimurthy's case is under appeal, and certainly did not make clear the actual significance of his appearance in Hanover District Court, and the guilty finding entered by that court.
