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Snowblower stolen while resident showered

By Elizabeth Dinan

edinan@seacoastonline.com

PORTSMOUTH — When a Pheasant Lane resident heard her dogs barking Monday morning, she got out of the shower, looked out her window and saw a car drive off with her snowblower in the trunk.

According to the city’s public police log, the woman reported the theft at 11:06 a.m. and described the suspect car as having four doors and being dark blue in color. The woman told police the trunk lid was partially open and her orange snowblower was sticking partially out.

Police issued a “be on the lookout” alert, but were unable to locate the alleged thief.

Anyone with information is asked to call Anonymous Crime Stoppers phone line at 431-1199, or leave a tip on the Crime Stoppers web site at www.seacoastcrimestoppers.org.

Surprise Seabrook bust nets two suspects, guns and drugs

By Susan Morse
smorse@seacoastonline.com

SEABROOK — In a “break and rake” drug bust in Seabrook Tuesday night, police used “flash bang” to apprehend two suspects who had cocaine, a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, shotguns, and other weapons inside of the home, according to Chief Patrick Manthorn.

Seabrook police, the local SWAT team called the Seacoast Emergency Response Team (SERT) and the state Drug Task Force, using a no-knock search warrant, smashed windows at the 1 Maple Ridge Road residence and tossed inside “flash bangs” — a device that gives a burst of bright light, temporarily blinding those inside.

SERT members positioned themselves outside the windows at the house, in case the suspected armed subjects took action, according to Manthorn.

Residents Eduardo Raposo, 34, and Sergio Pimentel, 29, were arrested without incident around 10 p.m. Both men are Portuguese and born outside of the U.S., said Manthorn, who had no information on how long the men have been living in Seabrook.

Police seized approximately two ounces of cocaine with a street value of $6,000. The men were selling the drug to local residents, Manthorn said. Police also found assorted prescription medications, an undisclosed amount of money, the semi-automatic pistol, four rifles and shotguns and knives.

Police believed the men had weapons, which was the reason for calling in SERT, said Manthorn. What police didn’t know before going to the single-family residence was that it had been broken up into three apartments on the ground, first and second floors.

There were no injuries, said Manthorn. The men arrested were living in the basement apartment, he said. Two women live on the first floor and one male on the second. All were home at the time of what police termed a “break and rake” bust.

No charges have been brought against any of the other tenants. The homeowner, whose name was not released, is a local business owner, said Manthorn.

The search warrant concluded a three-month investigation into the distribution of cocaine in Seabrook, according to Manthorn. Patrol officers Adam Laurent and David Buccheri provided information to the Drug Task Force. An undercover officer made a recent drug deal with the men, said Manthorn. Based on that information, the search warrant was issued.

Raposo and Pimentel were arraigned on Wednesday in Hampton District Court on charges of possession of a controlled drug with intent to sell. Judge Francis J. Frasier set bail at $50,000 cash for each. Raposo is not eligible to post bail until it is determined he is in this country legally, said Frasier.

They are next scheduled to appear in court on Monday, Feb. 11, at 11 a.m.

Exhaust thefts track rise in metal prices

By Elizabeth Dinan
edinan@seacoastonline.com

PORTSMOUTH -- After the Jan. 10 sun had set, a thief shimmied under a work truck parked in the Gosling Road Clean Harbors parking lot, sawed off the catalytic converter, then stole it.

Designed to reduce auto emissions, “cats” are coated in a wash of metals, including platinum, which this week reached an historic high value of $1,735 an ounce. Rhodium is also found in the mix and, while lesser known, was selling this week at $5,700 an ounce.

With scrap metal yards paying cash for cats, exhaust thefts have become the crime du jour for thieves following the metals market, say police.

Further proof can be found on the eBay auction site, which currently lists dozens of used cats for sale, all as scrap and most noting the platinum content.

“We do know it’s very widespread,” Police Capt. Janet Champlin said about cat crimes.

In the case of the Clean Harbors theft, Champlin said the cat was cut from the belly of a Ford pickup truck by someone using a Sawzall or hacksaw. News reports from Southern California, where cat crimes have been committed by the hundreds, cite thieves with socket wrenches removing them in under two minutes.

Victims typically discover they’ve been targeted when starting their vehicles and hearing their unmuffled engines.

Champlin said the crimes are similar to a recent rash of copper thefts because the metals are traded for cash. Investigating detectives “are in contact on a regular basis” with area scrap metal dealers, with “reputable” ones checking and logging sellers’ identification, said Champlin.

Louie Dow, of Dow’s Automotive on Islington Street, said if he gets a junk car, he cuts the catalytic converter before having it hauled.

“I found out about it when one of the junk guys asked if he could use my lift because he wanted to cut the converter out,” said Dow. “I’ve been putting them in the metal recycling dumpsters for years, not knowing.”

Not anymore.

Dow now sells them for $35 to $80, depending on size. The larger the car, the larger the converter, he said.

Foreign cars have bigger ones and some makes, like a Ford Explorer, can have four or five cats, said Dow. Just this week, he cut a double one from the underside of a Ford Taurus and expects to trade it for $70 cash.

To keep thieves from doing the same, police urge residents to park in well lit areas where someone with a saw will be noticed.

Majority supports keeping sidewalk clearing as-is

By Melissa Lattman

NEWFIELDS — The majority of people present at Tuesday night’s public hearing favored keeping sidewalk clearing as it is in town. About 25 residents came with many praising the hard work of the Road Agent Brian Knipstein.

“I have lived on Main Street for 18 years and I have never had a problem with sidewalks,” said Denise Marshall.

Resident Tom Conner who maintained the sidewalks previously said, “I commend Brian and his crew for the fine job they do on the sidewalks.”

The hearing capped off a flurry over the last several weeks of heated words, subsequent apologies, and a look at sidewalk maintenance procedures in town. Residents expressed last month concerns of snowy sidewalks causing children to walk in the streets to get to school.

The snowy sidewalk issue came to a head after Selectmen Michael Woodworth prior to the Jan. 8 board of selectmen meeting characterized a resident’s complaint as “bitching.” During discussion of snow removal at the Jan. 8 meeting a heated debate occurred between Woodworth and a resident. The Chairman of the Board James McIlroy raised his voice and used his hand as a gavel to restore order to the meeting. A special meeting on Jan. 15 included apologies from Woodworth and McIlroy. Tuesday’s meeting reviewed sidewalk snow removal including timing of plowing, size of the machine, plowing priorities, safety, and liability.

State law keeps towns from liability due to snow as long as a good faith effort to remove snow following a prioritized list is made and there is no gross negligence or reckless disregard. Sidewalks are sixth on the town’s snow priority list following streets, the fire and police station, the school, intersections, and library parking.

The challenges of winter storms were discussed “(There is) no way we can 100 percent guarantee at all times (cleared) sidewalks even with our best efforts. The sidewalks are not always going to be cleaned with the type and timing of the storm. School cancellations and delays are unknowns. People plow and sidewalks get covered again,” McIlroy said.

The cost to do the sidewalks is about $130 to $140 per storm. When asked Knipstein said, “(Cleaning sidewalks) is a thankless job. I have a $35,000 machine tied up all winter. Doing the sidewalks more is a manpower issue.” He added an additional person would need to be added so the cost would actually be $65 per hour times the length of the storm. The same guy is currently switched from task to task. Plowing starts when police dispatch calls or when Knipstein notices snow on the pavement, which means between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. he has to monitor snow conditions, he said.

Sometimes an inch or so of snow is left intentionally when ice is expected, because it is easier to clear and helps prevent black ice conditions. Sidewalks are salted if there is a significant amount of ice. Newfields does not have a full-time highway department, said Knipstein.

“I think everybody’s driveway has ice. It’s winter you’re going to have ice,” said Jeff Buxton.

Some resident suggested wearing boots and parents might need to transport children to school.

Resident Peter Allen spoke several times expressing concerns over safety, liability, and damage to stone walls, ice and timeliness. “The issue was timeliness can the work start at a different time. Not (spending) more money on this. Are we doing everything we can within our means and the tools we have,” Allen said.

Selectmen Wes Moore said, “It’s a good conversation for us to have. The only thing we can change is more money. If someone wants to change this come to the deliberative session and add money to the highway budget; …public safety begins at home.”

Moore asked for a show of hands at the meeting and the overwhelming majority of people indicated keeping the sidewalk snow removal program as is.

Footprints a focus in former N.H. candidate's trial

By Holly Ramer
Associated Press

DOVER -- A firefighter testified Wednesday that he saw a footprint leading into the woods near where Gary Dodds crashed his car in 2006, bolstering the congressional candidate's claim that he spent the night lost outside.

Michael McShane's testimony on the second day of Dodds' trial contradicted that of a state trooper, who testified earlier that the only footprints in the area — other than those made by neighbors who responded to the crash — led from the car back to the highway. But McShane, part of the first rescue crew at the scene, also told jurors that when he went into the woods to search, he found no other footprints or signs that anyone had entered the snowy woods.

Prosecutors say Dodds faked his story about crossing an icy river and spending a night in the woods after crashing his car that April, and that he soaked his feet in cold water for hours as part of a ploy to attract attention to his flagging campaign for the Democratic nomination in the 1st Congressional District.

Defense lawyers argue that Dodds has been wrongly accused by law enforcement officials to deflect attention from their bungled search and rescue effort.

Dodds' wife, Cynthia, offered still another possible explanation while the search — which she considered inadequate — was still in progress, State Police Capt. Robert Quinn testified Wednesday.

"She told me that her husband did not drink, didn't have a girlfriend, didn't do drugs. So basically, she felt this was suspicious in nature," Quinn said.

"She also told me she felt the Democratic Party may be behind his current situation ... because the Democratic Party wanted Jim Craig to win," Quinn said.

Craig, then a state representative, was considered the front-runner for the nomination at the time.

Dodds, 43, a businessman, is charged with falsifying evidence, a felony, and misdemeanor charges of leaving the scene of an accident and causing false public alarm. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.

Dodds' car struck and went over a highway guardrail in Dover on the evening of April 5, 2006. He later said he swerved to avoid hitting a deer but remembered little else other than wading through the icy river and wandering in the woods.

Authorities estimate they spent $18,000 searching for Dodds with teams assisted by dogs and a helicopter. Dodds was found the next night, a mile from the crash scene under a pile of leaves, fading in and out of consciousness and missing a shoe.

In opening statements Tuesday, County Attorney Thomas Velardi said physical and medical evidence will show that Dodds' injuries were caused by immersing his feet in cold water for 5-10 hours rather than spending the night outdoors after being fully submerged in the river.

Quinn said he spoke to Dodds, whose feet were purple, when he arrived at Portsmouth Regional Hospital after being found. Dodds, without opening his eyes, "asked if there was a fire. He said that he was confused. He thought the car was on fire," Quinn said.

Dodds said he remembered being up to his head in the river and felt his fleece vest had saved his life, Quinn said.

Dodds was never considered a contender in the primary, which he lost to Carol Shea-Porter. She defeated Republican Rep. Jeb Bradley in the general election.

UNH, faculty contract talks at impasse

By Associated Press

DURHAM -- The University of New Hampshire and the faculty union say they have reached an impasse in contract talks.

After an exchange of proposals last week, both sides will now seek an outside mediator to resolve differences.

UNH faculty have been without a contract for 19 months. The last contract, which was settled in 2003, remains in effect until both sides agree on a new one.

Compensation and benefits have been the sticking points in negotiations.

State Police Capt. testifies Dodds' injuries inconsistent

By Beth Lamontagne
news@seacoastonline.com

DOVER — New Hampshire State Police Capt. Robert Quinn told the court Wednesday morning the injuries to former congressional candidate Gary Dodds’ feet did not appear consistent with the condition of the rest of his body in the hours after he was found in the woods behind Garrison School.

Quinn’s testimony came after a Dover firefighter testified he wrote an informal report to his superior that he saw snowy footprints leading into the woods the night of the April 5, 2006 crash. Police on the scene said they had only seen footprints leading to the road.

Dodds, 43, a Rye businessman, is facing charges of falsifying evidence, conduct after an accident and causing false public alarm in connection with the Spaulding Turnpike crash.

After the accident, he disappeared and was found in the woods 27 hours later buried in leaves and was taken to Portsmouth Hospital.

Prosecutors allege Dodds faked the accident in order to boost his failing campaign. The defense maintains he is a victim of over-zealous investigators who wrongfully accused him.

It was at the hospital where Quinn said he spoke with Dodds about the accident and his disappearance, as well as observed his injuries.

“The first body part I saw was his feet,” said Quinn. “They were dark purplish. They obviously looked like they had been exposed to the elements. There was what I would call a clear line of demarcation where his socks would end. ... Above that, looked to me like it was normal.”

On cross-examination, defense attorney J.P. Nadeau pointed to Quinn’s report of the incident and asked if he was backing away from his previous statement in the report, which said, “it appeared to me (Dodds) had been in the water and been exposed to elements.”

On redirect, co-prosecutor Thomas Miscio asked Quinn to clarify why his statements on the stand and his statement in his report differed.

“Obviously, if you look at someone’s feet and they were that dark, they had been in water,” said Quinn.

“Did that opinion change?” Miscio asked.

“My opinion of what happened changed when I looked at the rest of his body and it was clear it wasn’t consistent. … It was just common sense, looking at someone’s fingertips, looking at someone’s face; I didn’t see anything other than (his feet) that was remarkable.”

Nadeau again questioned Quinn about why he did not put his take on Dodds’ injuries in the report in the first place.

“I don’t think my opinion should be in the report,” said Quinn. “We are fact finders. I wrote what I saw. You asked me my opinion (today) and I gave it.”

In another line of questioning, Quinn testified that, in the hours after Dodds was reported missing, Cindy Dodds, Dodds’ wife, told him she suspected the Democratic Party might have something to do with it.

Quinn said he met with Cindy Dodds the day after her husband got into an accident on the Spaulding Turnpike.

“She was upset we weren’t doing more for her,” said Quinn. “She told me she had been out looking for him. … Basically she felt this was suspicious in nature. She told me she thought the Democratic Party might be behind the situation because the Democratic Party wanted (former congressional candidate) Jim Craig to win.”

Quinn said he also contacted Cindy Dodds at her home the day he was found.

“I told her we had found her husband. She asked if he was alive,” said Quinn. “I asked Mrs. Dodds if she wanted to come to command post. They were still getting him out of the woods and wherever they took him I could give her a ride.”

It was at the hospital where Quinn saw Dodds, spoke to him briefly and saw his injuries.

On cross-examination, Nadeau questioned why search dogs were not called out earlier in the search and questioned whether state police followed their own standard operating procedure.

Earlier in the morning, Dover firefighter Michael McShane took the stand to answer questions about a mysterious footprint leading into the woods from the scene of the accident.

Defense attorney J.P. Nadeau raised doubts as to testimony given by two State Police troopers that the only footprints found in the area were going from the car up to the guard rail on the side of the turnpike.

When Spur Road resident Michael Peloso, who arrived on the scene shortly after the accident, took the stand yesterday, he testified he had found footprints leading from the scene of the accident to his road the night of the accident.

His house is located in the woods near the scene.

Today, McShane confirmed that a man on the scene (identified as Peloso) told him about finding a footprint that didn’t match his or his wife’s footprints. McShane included it in an informal report he submitted to his superior, Steve Lezniak of the Dover Fire and Rescue.

“It was consistent that there were tracks heading from woods to the scene,” said McShane, because Peloso and his wife, Caren, had walked through there. “The part that didn’t fit into the equation was a larger footprint heading in that direction into the woods.”

“When the gentleman (Peloso) pointed out tracks, you told him a firefighter had just walked there?” asked Nadeau.

“Yes,” answered McShane.

The defense has expressed frustration throughout the trial that McShane’s version of events the night of the accident had not been revealed to them until last month, but on redirect Acting Strafford County Attorney again asked McShane if the information submitted was a formal report and McShane said it was not. Once he turned it over to Lezniak, his superior handled the narrative.

Writers union gives OK to work on Grammys

By Lynn Elber
Associated Press Entertainment Writer

Life just got a lot easier for the head of the Recording Academy.

Last month, Neil Portnow vowed to stage a full-scale Grammy Awards show with or without support from the striking writers guild.

He'll find it a lot easier to live up to that pledge now that the Writers Guild of America has agreed to let its members work the show on Feb. 10.

Portnow called the guild's decision Monday gratifying, and promised a 50th anniversary show "with an amazing lineup of artists and performances."

With the guild's board of directors deciding to sign an interim agreement for the awards ceremony, the Grammys will escape the fate that befell this month's Golden Globes.

The Globes were stripped of stars and pomp when the guild wouldn't agree to an interim deal and the Screen Actors Guild encouraged its members to boycott the ceremony, which was reduced to a news conference.

The agreement allowing guild-covered writing for the Grammys is in support of union musicians and also will help advance writers' quest for "a fair contract," the guild said in a statement.

"Professional musicians face many of the same issues that we do concerning fair compensation for the use of their work in new media," Patric M. Verrone, president of the guild's West Coast branch, said in the statement.

Payment for projects distributed via the Internet is a central issue in the contract dispute between the writers union and the alliance that represents studios.

Informal talks began last week between the union and several studio chiefs in an effort to resolve the nearly three-month-old strike that has disrupted movie and TV production. Formal negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke down in early December.

During the impasse, the Directors Guild of America reached a tentative deal with the alliance that addressed new-media issues and created pressure for the writers to resume talks.

The writers guild has agreed to allow next month's NAACP Image Awards to proceed with guild support, a courtesy also granted to Sunday night's Screen Actors Guild Awards.

But the guild has declined a waiver for the Academy Awards, raising doubts about how the Feb. 24 ceremony will be staged if the strike continues and actors stage a boycott. The ceremony's producer has vowed the show will go on, hinting it could be padded with clips from 80 years of Oscar history if writers and stars do not cooperate.

McCain wins Florida, gets Giuliani on his side

By Associated Press

MIAMI — Sen. John McCain won a breakthrough triumph in the Florida primary Tuesday night, seizing the upper hand in the Republican presidential race ahead of next week's coast-to-coast contests and lining up a quick endorsement from soon-to-be dropout Rudy Giuliani.

"It shows one thing: I'm the conservative leader who can unite the party," McCain told The Associated Press after easing past former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for his first-ever triumph in a primary open only to Republicans.

"We have a ways to go, but we're getting close" to the nomination, he said later in an appearance.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was the Democratic winner in a primary held in defiance of national rules that drew no campaigning and awarded no delegates.

The victory was worth 57 Republican National Convention delegates for McCain, a winner-take-all haul that catapulted him ahead of Romney in that category.

Romney, who has spent millions of dollars of his personal fortune to run for the White House, vowed to stay in the race.

"At a time like this, America needs a president in the White House who has actually had a job in the real economy," the former businessman told supporters in St. Petersburg.

Giuliani, the former New York mayor, ran third. It was his best showing of the campaign, but not nearly good enough for the one-time front-runner who decided to make his last stand in a state that is home to tens of thousands of transplanted New Yorkers. Several officials familiar with events said he intended to endorse McCain on Wednesday in California.

In remarks to supporters in Orlando, Giuliani referred to his candidacy repeatedly in the past tense — as though it were over. "We'll stay involved and together we'll make sure that we'll do everything we can to hand our nation off to the next generation better than it was before," he said.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee ran fourth in the primary but told supporters he would campaign on. Texas Rep. Ron Paul was fifth, and last.

Florida marked the end of one phase of the campaign, the last in a series of single-state contests that winnowed a once unwieldy field.

The race goes national next week — McCain said it would be the closest thing to a nationwide primary as any event in history. Twenty-one states hold Republican primaries and caucuses on Tuesday with 1,023 convention delegates at stake.

Returns from 81 percent of Florida's precincts showed McCain, the Arizona senator, with 36 percent of the vote and Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, with 31 percent.

In the overall delegate race, it was McCain 93, Romney 59, Huckabee 40. Paul has four and Giuliani one.

The victory was another step in one of the most remarkable political comebacks of recent times. McCain entered the race the front-runner, then found his campaign out of funds and unraveling last summer as his stands in favor of the Iraq War and a controversial immigration bill proved unpopular.

The war gradually became less of a concern after President Bush's decision to increase troop deployments began to produce results. McCain also sought to readjust his position on immigration.

By the time of the New Hampshire primary, he had retooled his candidacy and ridden his Straight Talk Express campaign bus to over 100 town hall meetings. He won in New Hampshire, stumbled in Michigan, but won the South Carolina primary last week, taking first place in the state that had snuffed out his presidential hopes in 2000.

McCain's previous triumphs this year, and in two states in 2000, came in elections open to independents as well as Republicans.

He campaigned in Florida with the support of the state's two top Republican elected officials, Gov. Charlie Crist and Sen. Mel Martinez.

Romney's only primary win so far was in Michigan, a state where he grew up and claimed a home-field advantage. He also has caucus victories to his credit in Wyoming and Nevada.

A survey of voters as they left their polling places Tuesday showed the economy was the top issue for nearly half. McCain led his rival among those voters, blunting Romney's weeklong effort to persuade Floridians that his background as a businessman made him best-suited for heading off a recession.

McCain also benefited from the support of self-described moderates, as well as older voters and Hispanics. Giuliani ran second among Latino voters, according to preliminary exit poll data.

Romney was favored by voters opposed to abortion and to easing the path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

About 40 percent of self-described conservatives supported him, as well, compared to about 25 percent for McCain.

The poll was conducted by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International for The Associated Press and the television networks.

The Democratic primary was controversial by its very existence, an act of defiance against national party officials who wanted it held later in the year.

Even so, Clinton sought to emphasize her performance in the state, holding a victory rally as the polls were closing.

She challenged Barack Obama to agree to seat the delegates on the basis of the night's vote, but he demurred, saying he would abide by an agreement all Democratic candidates had made months ago.

"Those decisions will be made after the nomination, not before," Obama told reporters Tuesday on a plane from Washington to Kansas. "Obviously, I care a lot about the people in Michigan and a lot about the people in Florida. And I want their votes in the general election. We'll be actively campaigning for them."

Giuliani to drop out of Republican presidential race, back McCain

By Devlin Barrett

Associated Press Writer

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Rudy Giuliani told supporters Wednesday he's abandoning his bid for president and backing Republican rival and longtime friend John McCain.

Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican and adviser to Giuliani, said the former mayor called him this morning to tell him of his plan.

Giuliani "will be announcing his endorsement today," said King.

"I expect him to be fairly active for McCain. There is a real friendship and respect between the two," he said. A similar call took place between Giuliani and New York Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno.

"I spoke with Rudy Giuliani this morning and he confirmed that he is dropping out of the race and will endorse Senator John McCain for president," Bruno said in a statement.

Once the Republican presidential front-runner, Giuliani suffered a debilitating defeat in Tuesday's Florida primary.

The former mayor finished a distant third to the winner, McCain, and close second-place finisher Mitt Romney. After the results, Republican officials had said Giuliani would endorse McCain on Wednesday in California.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the public announcement.

Speaking to supporters Tuesday night, Giuliani stopped short of announcing he was stepping down, but delivered a valedictory speech that was more farewell than fight-on.

"I'm proud that we chose to stay positive and to run a campaign of ideas in an era of personal attacks, negative ads and cynical spin," Giuliani said as supporters with tight smiles crowded behind him. "You don't always win, but you can always try to do it right, and you did."

Republican presidential candidates were scheduled to debate at the Reagan presidential library in Simi Valley on Wednesday night.

"I haven't talked to him," McCain said as he boarded a campaign charter plane Wednesday morning. "I'm going to talk to him today when we meet."

Separately, Giuliani said as he prepared to leave Florida for California Wednesday he was "not yet" ready to announce his intentions.

Tuesday's result was a remarkable collapse for Giuliani. Last year, he occupied the top of national polls and seemed destined to turn conventional wisdom on end by running as a moderate Republican who supported abortion rights, gay rights and gun control.

The results seriously decimated Giuliani's unconventional strategy, which relied heavily on Florida to launch him into the coast-to-coast Feb. 5 nominating contests.

But Florida proved to be less than hospitable. His poll numbers dropped and key endorsements went to McCain.

Surveys of voters leaving polling places Tuesday showed that Giuliani was getting backing from some Hispanics, abortion rights supporters and people worried about terrorism, but was not dominating in any area.

McCain, addressing his own supporters moments later in Miami, gave Giuliani a warm rhetorical embrace, a possible prologue to accepting Giuliani's expected support.

"I want to thank my dear friend, my dear friend Rudy Giuliani, who invested his heart and soul in this primary and who conducted himself with all the qualities of the exceptional American leader he truly is," McCain said. "Thank you, Rudy, for all you have added to this race and for being an inspiration to me and millions of Americans."

Giuliani hung his bid for the Republican presidential nomination on his leadership. His stalwart performance as New York mayor in the tense days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington earned him national magazine covers, international accolades and widespread praise.

Steadfast in a crisis, as a candidate Giuliani was a bundle of contradictions, so much so that he liked to joke that even he didn't always agree with himself.

A moderate-to-liberal New Yorker who backed abortion rights, gay rights and gun control in a party dominated by Southern conservatives, Giuliani became a Republican mayor of an overwhelmingly Democratic city. Campaigning for national office, he claimed to have created the most conservative government in the most liberal city in America.

After earning a reputation as a tough-talking, even abusive executive, Giuliani the presidential candidate was mostly mild-mannered in debates, even as those around him got meaner.

Giuliani, 63, first gained prominence as a crime-busting federal prosecutor in New York City. Jailing mob bosses, Wall Street executives and corrupt politicians helped propel his next career as a politician, but it wasn't an immediate success. He lost the first time he ran for mayor in 1989 before winning in 1993.

As mayor, he fostered a take-charge image by rushing to fires and crime scenes to brief the press, but some critics felt he was more concerned about taking credit from others for what became a historic decline in the city's crime rate during his tenure.

A bout with prostate cancer and the very public breakup of his marriage with second wife Donna Hanover — she first learned he was filing for divorce when he made the announcement at a televised news conference — forced Giuliani to withdraw from a race for the U.S. Senate against Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2000. The messy divorce was revisited in awkward detail once he re-entered politics.

With no working strategy in his presidential campaign, no primary victories and dwindling resources, the mayor's third-place finish in Florida spelled the end of his run, even if his crestfallen supporters couldn't believe it.

"They'll be sorry!" a woman with a New York accent called out to the mayor as he spoke. "You sound like my mother," Giuliani joked.

Democrat Edwards ends presidential bid

By The Associated Press

DENVER — Democrat John Edwards is exiting the presidential race Wednesday, ending a scrappy underdog bid in which he steered his rivals toward progressive ideals while grappling with family hardship that roused voters' sympathies, The Associated Press has learned.

The two-time White House candidate notified a close circle of senior advisers that he planned to make the announcement at a 1 p.m. EST event in New Orleans that had been billed as a speech on poverty, according to two aides. The decision came after Edwards lost the four states to hold nominating contests so far to rivals who stole the spotlight from the beginning — Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

The former North Carolina senator will not immediately endorse either candidate in what is now a two-person race for the Democratic nomination, said one adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the announcement. Both candidates would welcome Edwards' backing and the support of the 56 delegates he had collected.

Edwards waged a spirited top-tier campaign against the two better-funded rivals, even as he dealt with the stunning blow of his wife's recurring cancer diagnosis. In a dramatic news conference last March, the couple announced that the breast cancer that she thought she had beaten had returned, but they would continue the campaign.

Their decision sparked a debate about family duty and public service. But Elizabeth Edwards remained a forceful advocate for her husband, and she was often surrounded at campaign events by well-wishers and emotional survivors cheering her on.

Edwards planned to announce his campaign was ending with his wife and three children at his side. Then he planned to work with Habitat for Humanity at the volunteer-fueled rebuilding project Musicians' Village, the adviser said.

With that, Edwards' campaign will end the way it began 13 months ago — with the candidate pitching in to rebuild lives in a city still ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Edwards embraced New Orleans as a glaring symbol of what he described as a Washington that didn't hear the cries of the downtrodden.

Edwards burst out of the starting gate with a flurry of progressive policy ideas — he was the first to offer a plan for universal health care, the first to call on Congress to pull funding for the war, and he led the charge that lobbyists have too much power in Washington and need to be reigned in.

The ideas were all bold and new for Edwards personally as well, making him a different candidate than the moderate Southerner who ran in 2004 while still in his first Senate term. But the themes were eventually adopted by other Democratic presidential candidates — and even a Republican, Mitt Romney, echoed the call for an end to special interest politics in Washington.

Edwards' rise to prominence in politics came amid just one term representing North Carolina in the Senate after a career as a trial attorney that made him millions. He was on Al Gore's short list for vice president in 2000 after serving just two years in office. He ran for president in 2004, and after he lost to John Kerry, the nominee picked him as a running mate.

Elizabeth Edwards first discovered a lump in her breast in the final days of that losing campaign. Her battle against the disease caused her husband to open up about another tragedy in their lives — the death of their teenage son Wade in a 1996 car accident. The candidate barely spoke of Wade during his 2004 campaign, but he offered his son's death to answer questions about how he could persevere when his wife could die.

Edwards made poverty the signature issue of both his presidential campaigns, and he led a four-day tour to highlight the issue in July. The tour was the first to focus on the plight of the poor since Robert F. Kennedy's trip 40 years earlier.

But even as Obama and Clinton collected astonishing amounts of money that dwarfed his fundraising effort, Edwards maintained a loyal following in the first voting state of Iowa that made him a serious contender. He came in second to Obama in Iowa, an impressive feat of relegating Clinton to third place, before coming in third in the following three contests.

The loss in South Carolina was especially hard because it was where he was born and he had won the state in 2004.

Lawyers: Gary Dodds froze his own feet after 2006 crash

By Beth LaMontagne
news@seacoastonline.com

DOVER — Gary Dodds faked his car accident, disappeared from the scene for more than 20 hours, and soaked his feet in cold water to make it look like he had frostbite as part of an elaborate ruse to gain notoriety and bolster his congressional campaign coffers, the prosecution argued Tuesday in opening arguments.

The defense repeatedly called the prosecution's theory absurd and said the county brought these charges after state investigators badly bungled the search and rescue of an accident victim.

Dodds, 43, a Rye businessman, is facing charges of falsifying evidence, conduct after an accident and causing false public alarm.

On Monday, the jury toured the scene of Dodds' April 5, 2006, car accident, where he walked through the brush, according to the defense, and where he was found 27 hours later in woods behind the Garrison School.

In his opening statement, acting Strafford County Attorney Thomas Velardi said, "Gary Dodds purposefully changed the appearance of his feet to make it look like something happened, but nothing happened." According to medical reports, Velardi said, Dodds did not show signs of long-term exposure and his feet were not frostbitten, but had an "immersion foot-related injury," otherwise known as trench foot, which happens after long exposure to water. Velardi also pointed to a clear point of demarcation on Dodds' legs where the injury ended.

Verlardi admitted the prosecution has no idea where Dodds was between the time of the accident and when he was found, but can prove he wasn't in the woods.

"Gary Dodds says he's a victim here. ...; He's a survivor of a horrible ordeal. This was supposed to be a hero's story," said Velardi. "Instead, when the state police began to pick it apart, it became a criminal investigation."

When defense attorney J.P. Nadeau took to the podium, he criticized state investigators and the prosecution for turning the victim into the perpetrator.

"You are going to find it outrageous," said Nadeau. "This is a case about a man wrongfully accused in a situation so absurd even a genius couldn't conceive it." There is evidence, Nadeau argued, that indicates Dodds was at the scene of the crash, did swim through the river and his injuries are consistent with someone exposed to the cold for more than a day.

He said the prosecution is down playing Dodds' injuries and the extent of the crash to bolster its false theory of what happened.

"The state just mishandled the search for Mr. Dodds in violation of their own standard procedure," said Nadeau.

Just before the lunch break, N.H. state trooper Brian Strong testified he arrived at the scene of the accident about 15 minutes after it happened.

He said Dodds' car had gone over the guardrail, over a short grassy area and came to rest by a large shrub.

The door to the passenger side was open and there were tracks from the passenger side door up toward the side of the turnpike, he said.

He also said Dover fire and rescue personnel Mike and Caren Peloso and another person at the scene said they didn't see anyone around the car when they arrived.

"In my opinion, it looked like a minor crash," Strong said during questioning by the prosecution.

He testified he and other rescue personnel checked both Spur Road sides of the turnpike and no one saw any tracks.

On cross examination, Nadeau questioned whether Strong actually asked each first responder about what they saw and if indeed there were any tracks in the area.

"Why would you not take particular concern for questioning the firefighters on scene as much as you talked to Mike and Karen Peloso?" Nadeau asked.

"No one told me they found any footprints," said Strong. "If we found any footprints, we probably would have found Mr. Dodds. ... We would have had a better idea of where he went." Dodds faces up to seven years in prison if convicted of the felony in Strafford County Superior Court.

Dodds was found that a mile from the crash scene. He was under a pile of leaves, fading in and out of consciousness and missing a shoe.

Paramedics and doctors who treated him noticed a clear line across his ankles with wet, purple, shriveled skin below, and warm and pink skin above, Velardi told the jury.

"Mr. Dodds had extremely clear lines of demarcation above his ankles, almost as if he were wearing socks," he said. Above the line, Dodds' body was warm and dry, he said.

He also said Dodds' temperature was 96.8 when he was rescued and rose to a normal 98.6 within 25 minutes.

"That temperature is no where near low enough to match what Mr. Dodds said happened," he said.

Though Dodds suffered "severe, cold-related injury" to his feet, it resulted from soaking them in cold water for five to 10 hours, he said.

Witness skeptical

The defense raised questions as to how many sets of footprints were found leaving the scene of the accident and state's witness Caren Peloso testified she doesn't believe Dodds' version of events the night of the crash. Peloso, a longtime Dover resident who grew up along the Bellamy River, lives on Spur Road about 100 feet from where Dodds' car was found empty.

"I saw the car after the accident," she said. "It appeared to be a minor accident. To be wandering around in the dark, confused with the area all lit up, with fire trucks and police cars, it didn't make sense to me. Then to cross the river and go about a mile (up river), it didn't add up." According to Dodds' account, he crashed his car on the Spaulding Turnpike and wandered from the scene because he thought his car was on fire. Later, he found himself in water above his head, which he later said was the Bellamy River. He doesn't remember the entire space of time when he was missing, but does remember walking up a steep embankment and hunkering down in the woods because he was too weak to go on.

Peloso, who said she learned how to swim in the Bellamy River, said she knew of an experienced swimmer who had drowned due to the current and questioned whether a person with a concussion who had just been in an accident could have crossed the river safely.

During direct questioning, Peloso testified she was watching television with her son when she heard a car crash. She looked out her window to see Dodds' car sitting between the turnpike and Spur Road. Peloso ran out of the house, called 911, and headed through the short stretch of small trees and shrubs to see if anyone in the car was hurt. Once she got to the car, she saw that no one was inside. The only person she saw at the scene was Cheryl Hurley, a motorist who earlier testified she had seen Dodds' car swerve off the road, but did not see anyone get out of the car once she pulled over to help.

After speaking briefly to Hurley, Peloso went back toward her home. On the way, she ran into her husband, Michael, and told him no one was there. Peloso later testified she went out to her back porch to smoke a cigarette and did not hear or see anyone in the river, either.

On cross-examination, defense attorney J.P. Nadeau tried to paint Peloso as a politically motivated and callous person who pestered New Hampshire state police to bring charges against Dodds.

After admitting to Nadeau that she didn't believe the initial version of his story, Nadeau brought up complaints Peloso wrote on a local blog and a letter sent to the Portsmouth Herald about Dodds' story being bogus.

Nadeau also brought up an altercation between Cindy Dodds and Peloso the day after Gary Dodds was found. Peloso admitted asking Cindy Dodds to get off her property when she went to show her daughters where their father had gone into the Bellamy River. Peloso also admitted she told Cindy Dodds she hoped to see her husband in handcuffs.

Besides attempting to cast doubts on Peloso's credibility, the defense raised questions as to whether only one set of footprints was seen leaving Dodds' vehicle. New Hampshire State Police trooper Brain Strong and Sgt. Gary Woods both testified they saw no other tracks besides those leading from the car to the edge of the turnpike the night of the accident.

Because of these tracks, said Woods, he was led to believe the driver of the car hiked up the embankment and either walked away or was picked up by another motorist.

During the testimony of Michael Peloso, however, he admitted seeing another set of tracks that he had pointed out to Dover fire fighter Michael McShane. According to the defense, McShane filed a report saying he found footprints going into the woods that did not belong to anyone on the scene, but they did not receive this report from the prosecution until recently.