The man convicted of fatally stabbing Sabrina Galusha during a melee in 2017 is appealing his manslaughter conviction in New Hampshire Supreme Court.
Daswan Jette, 24, is serving a 15- to 30-year state prison sentence for recklessly causing Galusha’s death on the night of May 30, 2017, at the Penacook Place Apartments. Jurors found Jette guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter after acquitting him of first- and second-degree murder in late January, following a three-week trial in Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord.
Prosecutors alleged that Jette knowingly caused Galusha’s death by fatally stabbing her during the commission of a robbery. Three of Galusha’s friends testified that Jette snatched a bag of marijuana off a scale as it was being weighed in a vehicle parked at Penacook Place, although his motive for doing so was disputed at trial.
Conversely, Jette, who took the witness stand in his own defense, told jurors he acted in self-defense after an altercation with Galusha and her friends in a vestibule of his apartment complex, and that he never intended to stab Galusha, or even knew that he had.
Galusha suffered three stab wounds that night: one to her knee, another to the buttock and a fatal one to the chest. New Hampshire Chief Medical Examiner Jennie Duval told jurors that the chest wound was about six inches deep and a “rapidly fatal injury.”
On appeal, Jette is re-raising arguments about the admissibility of certain evidence. The same arguments were rigorously debated before his trial.
Jette has maintained that he did not understand his Miranda rights, and that statements he made to Concord police in the hours after Galusha’s death should have been inadmissible. Further, he continues to question the creditability of the three friends who accompanied Galusha to Penacook Place to sell a half-ounce of marijuana. He asks on appeal whether Judge John Kissinger Jr. erred by allowing the friends to make in-court identifications of certain evidence.
Defense attorneys were precluded from telling jurors about Galusha’s prior drug activity and related evidence on her cellphone, and Jette is now challenging that decision. During pretrial hearings, his lawyers argued the evidence would have helped place Galusha at Penacook Place and, further, explained to jurors her motive for being there. However, prosecutors successfully argued that the information was immaterial to the case at hand and could cause unfair prejudice.
During the February sentencing hearing, Kissinger denied a defense motion seeking to preclude phone calls Jette made from jail while the trial was in progress. Defense attorneys did not dispute the authenticity of the calls, but argued the slang Jette used when referring to Galusha, the jurors and others in the courtroom could be misinterpreted and considered offensive. Kissinger ultimately allowed prosecutors to admit the evidence but said he would decide how much weight to give it. Jette maintains on appeal that the evidence was prejudicial.
Jette’s appellate attorneys have until Aug. 31 to submit their written legal argument, also known as a brief, to the Supreme Court.
He is currently serving his sentence at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men in Concord.