Salem Shooting Victim's Protective Order Not Supported In NH Law

SALEM, MA — A New Hampshire Judicial Review Committee determined that while a Salem shooting victim suffered "intimate partner violence" and was the recipient of recent harassment and verbal abuse, the judge who denied her a protective order a month before her Nov. 16 attack was justified in doing so because the threats did not rise to what the committee called the state's "restrictive" standard of a "credible present threat."

The 33-year-old woman suffered life-threatening injuries when she was shot outside of Doyle's Sailmaking on Technology Way about 5 p.m. on Nov. 16. Salem police said the suspect, 55-year-old Richard Lorman, of Wilton, NH, was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene.

The victim survived the attack and has remained hospitalized in recent weeks, according to family reports.

NH Gov. Chris Sununu ordered a judicial review when it was reported the woman had been denied a second protective order in October, with the committee releasing its report on Tuesday exonerating Judge Polly Hall, but shining a light on the high bar domestic violence victims in that state have to meet to be granted a protection order.

Noting the committee was "not tasked with serving as a court of appeals," it determined Hall acted in "good faith" during the hearing and in denying the order, while acknowledging the victim suffered intimate partner violence — described as "a pattern of coercive behavior used by one partner to maintain control over another partner in an intimate relationship." The committee said the judge reasonably decided the "credible present threat" was not established before the shooting during a 13-minute, 40-second hearing in which the victim had no representation and the defendant did not appear.

"Notably, the fact that the defendant has physically assaulted or threatened the victim does not, by itself, rise to the legal standard of a credible present threat," the committee wrote in its 40-page report. "Moreover, there are many forms of IPV that do not fall within the legal definition of 'abuse' for the purposes of obtaining an order of protection, but which are nonetheless harmful."

The committee's report described an instance of sexual violence against the victim in 2016, more recent forms of sexual activity that, while potentially painful and demeaning, were ultimately deemed consensual, an encounter where the defendant rearranged his guns in front of the victim in a menacing way, and an Aug. 27 incident where the victim was followed to the Marblehead Light House through her cell phone and told: "I will make you pay!"

According to the review committee, however, "a violent, or even severe, pervasive IPV will not be eligible for an order of protection if the defendant's conduct does not fit the restrictive definition of abuse outlined in New Hampshire law (where the) threat must be 'ongoing and specific.'

"Even when stalking or harassment-type behaviors are coupled with a history of physical violence and known weapon possession they will not support a finding of credible present threat absent some additional, current threat of physical violence."

The review committee recommended several steps New Hampshire can take to strengthen its domestic violence laws and court protections against intimate physical violence, which a state-appointed task force will consider and make recommended reforms to Gov. Sununu by early February.

"What happened to the victim, in this case, was absolutely tragic," Sununu said in a statement. "I commend the speed and transparency by which the court's review took place.

"The recommendations and reforms need to move forward in the same manner."

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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