The New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld former Merrimack County Sheriff Scott Hilliard’s 2019 drunk driving conviction on Friday, denying his argument that evidence about his blood alcohol level shouldn’t have been used against him at trial.
Police arrested Hilliard in early August 2019 in the parking lot of a 99 Restaurant off Route 140 in Tilton, after town police received a call about a white Cadillac driving erratically in the area. Officers said Hilliard smelled of alcohol and that his speech was slurred. In his car, police found a tumbler with a drink that Hilliard admitted contained alcohol. The sheriff was not on duty at the time.
After he failed field sobriety tests and a breath test showed he was over the legal limit, he was arrested without a warrant. Hilliard took a blood test after his arrest that found his blood alcohol concentration was at 0.246%, three times the legal limit.
During his trial, which was moved from Merrimack County to Nashua District Court, Circuit Court Judge James Leary ruled that although the arrest was unlawful since the sergeant did not seek a warrant, the blood test taken at the station could still be used as evidence since Hilliard had consented.
His attorney Jared Bedrick argued before the Supreme Court that as a result of the trial court’s ruling that Hilliard’s arrest was illegal, the results of the blood test Hilliard took after his arrest should be thrown out. Bedrick also said that because of the illegal arrest, Hilliard had not been able to give voluntary consent.
The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the circuit court, where Hilliard was found guilty of aggravated driving while intoxicated and transporting an alcoholic beverage. Leary had sentenced Hilliard to five-days in jail and ordered him to pay a fine of $930. He also had his license suspended for 18 months and was ordered to to drive with an ignition interlock device for 24 months after his license is reinstated.
After his conviction, Hilliard stayed on as sheriff until February 2020, after Governor Chris Sununu called on him to resign.