N.H. Senate Raises Bar in Impeachment Trial of Chief Justice

New Hampshire’s chief justice won a major victory Tuesday: A two-thirds vote will be required to convict him at his state Senate impeachment trial next month.

The Senate voted, 19 to 3, on Tuesday to impose the requirement on itself in recognition of the seriousness of its duty in the case against David A. Brock. New Hampshire has never before held a Senate impeachment trial.

“We’re only 22 people sitting here,” Sen. Lou D’Allesandro said. “It seems to me a majority would be a travesty.”

Brock lawyer Michael Madigan called the decision the most significant of the day.

“Whether it’s this chief justice or another officeholder in the future, this is the very first impeachment trial ever held in the state of New Hampshire and it’s a very, very serious matter,” Madigan said. “To have a matter like this decided on an 11-10 vote, we felt very strongly was not the way to go.”

State Sen. Mary Brown, one of the dissenters, said a conviction should be gained on a simple majority because the state Constitution does not specify a particular vote.

Earlier in the day, the Senate refused to dismiss any of the four impeachment articles against Brock.

He is accused of making an improper call to a lower-court judge in 1987, talking to then-Justice W. Stephen Thayer III about the handling of Thayer’s own divorce case, lying to House investigators and letting justices comment on cases from which they were disqualified for conflicts of interest.

Thayer resigned earlier this year rather than face the possibility of criminal charges. Last month, the House voted to impeach Brock.

Brock’s Senate trial is scheduled for Sept. 18.