State v. Montgomery, 2026 N.H. 24

Background

Adam Montgomery was convicted by a jury of second degree murder, second degree assault, falsifying physical evidence, witness tampering, and abuse of a corpse. 1
The charges arose from evidence that Montgomery abused his five-year-old daughter, Harmony, in 2019, and later hid and disposed of her body after she died. 2
The State’s strongest direct evidence of the July 2019 assault came from multiple witnesses, while Kayla Montgomery was the only direct witness tying Montgomery to the fatal December 2019 attack. 3
Before trial, Montgomery sought to sever the second degree assault charge from the homicide and related charges, but the trial court denied severance. 4
Montgomery also challenged admission of prior abuse, evidence that he blocked the victim’s mother from seeing the child, and a silent police video from December 31, 2021. 5

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether joinder of assault and murder charges required severance 6	State argued jury instructions cured any prejudice from joinder	Montgomery argued weak murder proof was unfairly bolstered by strong assault evidence	Misjoinder was not harmless as to murder; conviction reversed 7
Whether prior assaults during homelessness were intrinsic evidence 8	State said prior assaults completed the story of the murder	Montgomery said prior abuse was unrelated propensity evidence	Admitted properly as intrinsic to the murder charge 9
Whether evidence blocking the mother’s contact was intrinsic 10	State said it completed the narrative and rebutted Montgomery’s story	Montgomery said it was unrelated and prejudicial	Not intrinsic; admission was error, but retrial may seek 404(b) admission 11
Whether silent police-encounter video was admissible 12	State said the video was relevant to investigation and whereabouts	Montgomery said it implied pre-arrest silence and had no probative value	Video was admissible; no unfair prejudice 13

Key Cases Cited

State v. Girard, 173 N.H. 619 (N.H. 2020) (joinder/severance reviewed for unsustainable exercise of discretion 14)
State v. Brown, 159 N.H. 544 (N.H. 2009) (misjoinder can prejudice a defendant when a weak case is joined with a strong one 15)
State v. Rivera, 175 N.H. 496 (N.H. 2022) (best-interests-of-justice severance protects the right to a fair trial 16)
State v. Manna, 130 N.H. 306 (N.H. 1988) (juries are presumed to follow instructions 17)
State v. Mason, 150 N.H. 53 (N.H. 2003) (joinder error may be prejudicial despite limiting instructions 18)
State v. Rouleau, 176 N.H. 400 (N.H. 2024) (harmless-error factors and intrinsic-evidence framework 19)
State v. Papillon, 173 N.H. 13 (N.H. 2020) (intrinsic evidence requires a factual nexus beyond mere temporal proximity 20)
State v. Thomas, 168 N.H. 589 (N.H. 2016) (distinguishes intrinsic evidence from Rule 404(b) other-bad-acts evidence 21)
State v. Wells, 166 N.H. 73 (N.H. 2014) (prior conduct may be intrinsic as part of the course of conduct leading to the charged offense 22)
State v. Remick, 149 N.H. 745 (N.H. 2003) (use of pre-arrest silence in the State’s case-in-chief is unconstitutional 23)
State v. Letarte, 169 N.H. 455 (N.H. 2016) (issues not specifically briefed are waived 24)
State v. Blackmer, 149 N.H. 47 (N.H. 2003) (issues raised in a notice of appeal but not briefed are waived 25)
State v. Cossette, 151 N.H. 355 (N.H. 2004) (mixed verdicts can show the jury considered charges separately 26)
Bean v. Calderon, 163 F.3d 1073 (9th Cir. 1998) (joinder can allow impermissible propensity reasoning between weaker and stronger cases 27)
State v. Dukette, 145 N.H. 226 (N.H. 2000) (evidence may be admissible for a non-propensity purpose to rebut a defense theory 28)
State v. Zwicker, 151 N.H. 179 (N.H. 2004) (referenced as the basis for a Zwicker letter disclosure 29)