Female accuser should be charged, says lawyer of Haverhill man cleared of rape conviction

As I read this article, I found so many egregious points that I was not sure what, if any, introduction I would provide. The last paragraph, however, helped me make my decision. A man has been released after four years in prison due to the female accuser's finally admitting to not only lying about rape but committing perjury at the trial, and what does Jo-Ann MacKenzie do? She calls the woman the "victim"!!!!!

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR: Jo-Anne Mackenzie DERRY NEWS EDITOR 46 West Broadway, Route 102, Derry, New Hampshire. 603-421-3875.

E-mail her at jmackenzie@eagletribune.com

Female accuser should be charged, says lawyer of Haverhill man ...

Derry News

Female accuser should be charged, says lawyer of Haverhill man cleared of rape conviction

By Jo-Ann Mackenzi

New Hampshire has dropped all charges against Roland "Chris" Chretien of Haverhill, who was convicted in 2004 of sexually assaulting a 46-year-old female customer inside his Plaistow motorcycle shop, Blazin' Saddles on Route 125.

Chretien's lawyer said he wants legal action against the woman for lying.
Chretien was freed by a federal judge in July, after the woman admitted to lying at Chretien's 2004 trial. He had spent almost four years in prison. At the trial, the woman denied she had previously falsely accused another man of raping her under circumstances similar to the Chretien allegations.
New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte's office has decided not to challenge U.S. Judge Joseph Laplante's decision freeing Chretien and throwing out the 2004 guilty verdict against him. That left it up to Rockingham County Attorney James Reams' office to either retry Chretien or drop the charges against him.

Chretien's attorney, Scott Gleason of Haverhill, said Reams' office has dismissed the original indictment against Chretien.

Gleason said Chretien is "deeply appreciative" for the county attorney's swift action. However, Chretien now wants to see criminal perjury charges filed by the county attorney against the woman and her husband, whose courtroom lies sent him to prison, Gleason said.

"My client is demanding criminal charges for the perjury that resulted in his financial destruction and him spending four years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit," Gleason said.

Gleason said he is in "negotiations for prosecution" of the woman with the county attorney's office. Other options include asking federal authorities to intervene and filing a civil lawsuit for monetary damages against the woman and her husband, Gleason said.

"Her husband lied throughout the trial about not knowing his wife was having multiple sexual affairs," Gleason said. "He has since admitted he knew of at least two affairs."

At the 2004 trial, Judge Kenneth McHugh refused to allow Chretien's lawyer to ask the woman about her accusations or hold a pretrial hearing to probe the matter. McHugh simply asked the woman whether she had falsely accused another man of sexually assaulting her, and took her word that she had not, Gleason said.

However, the victim admitted to the prior false rape accusation at a July 8 federal hearing, at which her son and his roommate were prepared to testify about their knowledge of the matter, according to a 16-page ruling released last month by Laplante, the U.S. judge. The ruling does not mention the woman by name.

"It was impossible to determine whether the superior court's refusal to allow Chretien to cross-examine the victim regarding an allegedly false accusation of sexual assault against another man had a substantial, injurious effect on the verdict," Laplante wrote.

At the criminal trial, the victim testified she had gone to the motorcycle store to buy a leather belt. She told the judge she lives in a constant state of fear since the assault and that she was struggling through therapy and taking medications as a result of it.