Cemetery Preservationist arrested in Rochester, NH for protecting French-Hussey Cemetery
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Cemetery Preservationist arrested in Rochester, NH for protecting French-Hussey Cemetery
| mychll33 (View posts) | Posted: 24 Oct 2007 3:08PM GMT |
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This article was printed in the Foster's Daily Democrat in Rochester, NH. http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070801/F...
Arrest of Rochester cemetery preservationist leads to more charges
By AARON SANBORN
Democrat Staff Writer
asanborn@fosters.com
ROCHESTER — A preservationist facing charges of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct for refusing a police officer's order to move her vehicle from a burial site near a construction project had two more charges added Tuesday.
Michelle Smith, 45, of 6 Janet St., now also faces a reckless conduct charge and a violation for disobeying a police officer. The new charges were added during Smith's court appearance at Rochester District Court on Tuesday morning.
"Those are the charges we intended to bring forward all along," said Lt. Joseph Fricano, police prosecutor.
Smith was scheduled for trial on Tuesday but her attorneys, Samdperil & Welsh of Exeter, asked for and were granted a continuance.
A new trial date has yet to be set.
Smith, vice president of The Society for the Preservation of Rochester Burial Grounds, was arrested on the afternoon of April 25 when Smith said construction crews in the Washington Street area had parked their bulldozers too close to and were digging in a cemetery that is protected by the city.
The cemetery site, at the corner of Washington Street and Woodlawn Road, is in the area of a retail development project owned by the Flatley Company of Massachusetts.
In an effort to prevent further digging Smith drove to the site, rolled down her window and spoke with a police officer working traffic control. Smith said she told the officer that crews were digging at the burial site.
When the officer refused to stop construction she pointed to the area of the cemetery and told the officer she was going to drive over there. She then parked her SUV just before a small blue flag that marks the beginning of the burial ground.
She refused to leave the site, despite several warnings from police — and was arrested.
The burial ground contains the remains of 19 members of the French-Hussey family. Archaeologists from Portsmouth discovered graves there in December 2006. Shortly after Smith's arrest, an orange snow fence was put up around the site and remains there.
Attorney Richard Samdperil said he wasn't ready to comment publicly about the case.
Smith didn't want to comment about her case on Tuesday but did reference a fund being established at Northeast Credit Union by her friend Cyndy Lambert, to help pay for legal expenses.
She said that any money that isn't used on her legal expenses would go toward cemeteries in the city because there are as many as 200 needing extensive repair.
Arrest of Rochester cemetery preservationist leads to more charges
By AARON SANBORN
Democrat Staff Writer
asanborn@fosters.com
ROCHESTER — A preservationist facing charges of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct for refusing a police officer's order to move her vehicle from a burial site near a construction project had two more charges added Tuesday.
Michelle Smith, 45, of 6 Janet St., now also faces a reckless conduct charge and a violation for disobeying a police officer. The new charges were added during Smith's court appearance at Rochester District Court on Tuesday morning.
"Those are the charges we intended to bring forward all along," said Lt. Joseph Fricano, police prosecutor.
Smith was scheduled for trial on Tuesday but her attorneys, Samdperil & Welsh of Exeter, asked for and were granted a continuance.
A new trial date has yet to be set.
Smith, vice president of The Society for the Preservation of Rochester Burial Grounds, was arrested on the afternoon of April 25 when Smith said construction crews in the Washington Street area had parked their bulldozers too close to and were digging in a cemetery that is protected by the city.
The cemetery site, at the corner of Washington Street and Woodlawn Road, is in the area of a retail development project owned by the Flatley Company of Massachusetts.
In an effort to prevent further digging Smith drove to the site, rolled down her window and spoke with a police officer working traffic control. Smith said she told the officer that crews were digging at the burial site.
When the officer refused to stop construction she pointed to the area of the cemetery and told the officer she was going to drive over there. She then parked her SUV just before a small blue flag that marks the beginning of the burial ground.
She refused to leave the site, despite several warnings from police — and was arrested.
The burial ground contains the remains of 19 members of the French-Hussey family. Archaeologists from Portsmouth discovered graves there in December 2006. Shortly after Smith's arrest, an orange snow fence was put up around the site and remains there.
Attorney Richard Samdperil said he wasn't ready to comment publicly about the case.
Smith didn't want to comment about her case on Tuesday but did reference a fund being established at Northeast Credit Union by her friend Cyndy Lambert, to help pay for legal expenses.
She said that any money that isn't used on her legal expenses would go toward cemeteries in the city because there are as many as 200 needing extensive repair.