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After being locked up for seven years, Eric Largy was arraigned Friday on the same charges that were previously dropped in the alleged beating of his father, retired Nashua Police Chief Clifton Largy.
Judge Charles S. Temple set Eric Largy’s bail at $100,000 cash on two counts of first-degree assault and one charge of kidnapping in the April 22, 2009, attack on Clifton Largy in Nashua.
Judge Temple made it clear that he doesn’t want Largy sent to Valley Street Jail to be “warehoused” until trial. Temple also questioned where the case is going.
“The Court strongly recommends that Mr. Largy remain hospitalized at New Hampshire Hospital until he is discharged from that facility,” Temple wrote.
Temple said he would immediately review the bail order if Largy is taken to Valley Street Jail instead of the state’s psychiatric hospital because of the criminal charges.
Largy, 49, was held for almost two years in Valley Street Jail and for five and a half years on a civil involuntary commitment to the Secure Psychiatric Unit at state prison after being found incompetent to stand trial on the same criminal charges.
“I’m concerned about where we are in terms of what is actually going to be accomplished in this case,” Temple said.
Largy was recently transferred from the Secure Psychiatric Unit to the New Hampshire Hospital after Probate Judge David King denied the state’s request to involuntarily commit Largy for another five years. King’s order paved the way for Largy’s release from the psychiatric hospital in the next two months.
“If this process is simply going to repeat the competency process and end up exactly where we were in April of 2012 when Judge (Jacalyn) Colburn dismissed the case without prejudice, I am not sure why we are spinning those wheels,” Temple said. “But that’s not for me to consider at this point.”
Assistant Hillsborough County Attorney Leslie Gill told the judge that Largy handcuffed his father to an antique barber chair on April 22, 2009.
“He duct-taped his arms, put a blanket over his father’s head and tortured him for nearly 12 hours,” Gill said.
Clifton Largy suffered broken eye sockets and a broken jaw, according to press reports at the time.
Public Defender Suzanne Ketteridge argued for personal recognizance bail.
“He’s already served the amount of time one of those charges would result in,” Ketteridge said.
Gill told the judge: “I would argue, your honor, that he hasn’t been incarcerated. He’s been civilly committed because of mental health issues and dangerousness he poses to the community.”
Ketteridge responded: “SPU (Secure Psychiatric Unit) is an incarceration.”
Gill said high bail was required.
“The defendant should be …”
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About InDepthNH: Nancy West founded the nonprofit New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism in April. West is the executive editor of the center’s investigative news website,InDepthNH.org. West has won many awards for investigative reporting during her 30 years at the New Hampshire Union Leader. She has taught investigative journalism at the New England Center for Investigative Reporting’s summer program for pre-college students at Boston University. West is passionate about government transparency. The New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism is a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News, formerly called Investigative News Network, which is also InDepthNH.org’s fiscal sponsor. Click here to read about INN to learn more about the mission of nonprofit news.
