Hillsborough County pays $100,000 to fired prosecutor

Mark Hayward, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
Updated ·2 min read

Oct. 31—Hillsborough County has paid $100,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a prosecutor fired three years ago as political turmoil enveloped criminal prosecutions in the state's largest county.

The payment ends claims of a wrongful termination lawsuit brought by Donald Topham, a prosecutor fired in October 2019 by former Hillsborough County Attorney Michael Conlon. Conlon, a Democrat who was in his first term, fired Topham shortly after then-Manchester Police Chief Carlo Capano and his chief deputy complained about a plea bargain that involved the death of a child who was exposed to his parent's drugs.

The case was used in part to justify the takeover of the office by Gordon MacDonald, a Republican who was then attorney general, for most of Conlon's term.

The settlement is spelled out in an eight-page written agreement that includes a gag order and non-disparagement clause.

It calls for the county to pay $26,850 to Topham for lost wages, $31,100 to cover claims of compensatory damages, $4,300 to reimburse the state for unemployment payments to Topham, and $37,500 for attorney fees.

"All I can say is the matter has been resolved," wrote Topham's attorney, Sean List of Concord, in an email.

"The matter has been resolved," said County Administrator Chad Monier in an email.

Topham, who lives in Amherst, handled several high-profile, complicated cases in Conlon's office, including the felony prosecution of a Hillsborough teenager who joked about bringing guns to his graduation and the alleged beating of a Manchester police officer during a bar brawl.

But Topham became the object of Capano's scorn over the plea bargain for West Side resident Joshua Garvey, who agreed to five years in prison and two years of drug treatment following the death of his 20-month-old son from a drug overdose.

According to the lawsuit, Capano telephoned Conlon screaming about the Topham-engineered plea. The chief later told the media that he was disgusted by it and had lost confidence in Conlon.

Topham engaged in his own war of words with Capano, warning that the chief's behavior amounted to that of a police state and faulting his department for not turning over evidence beneficial to the defense.

Also, MacDonald's pick to oversee the Hillsborough County Attorney Office, David Rotman, had engineered a plea bargain in a child-overdose case that resulted in even less time than the Garvey case.

Under terms of the plea bargain, Garvey must complete the two-year, intensive drug treatment program or return to state prison for another five years.

He is currently imprisoned in the Northern New Hampshire Correctional Facility, according to the Correction Department's online prisoner locator.