Former State Senator Jeff Woodburn will not be prosecuted a third time on simple assault and domestic violence charges stemming from an incident with his former domestic partner in 2017.

New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella announced Wednesday his office will not retry the case and allow the charges to be dismissed after his second trial ended in a mistrial in March when jurors failed to reach a verdict about his guilt or innocence.

“Jeff is very relieved. He’s exonerated,” Woodburn’s attorney Mark Sisti said Wednesday. “This has been a long, long fight for him.”

Formella said he weighed the recent mistrial and “other relevant factors,” in making his decision.

“After prosecuting this case for nearly six years and two jury trials, I do not reach this decision lightly,” Formella said. “Domestic violence is a serious, ongoing issue that must be addressed with the utmost care and resolve.”

A year before the mistrial, in March 2023, the New Hampshire Supreme Court struck down Woodburn’s initial conviction after it found a lower court judge failed to instruct the jury on the issue of self-defense and incorrectly disallowed evidence of the woman’s alleged prior acts of aggression toward him. 

The ruling reversed the convictions of domestic violence and simple assault but affirmed two counts of criminal mischief. Woodburn was sentenced to serve a term of 12 months in jail, with all but 30 days suspended, on those charges, which he has not served.

However, Woodburn is appealing those convictions to the state supreme court as well.

The simple assault charges stemmed from an incident in December 2017 when Woodburn and his then-girlfriend got into an argument while driving. She reached for his phone and prosecutors said Woodburn bit her on the hand, according to court records.

In his appeal, Woodburn argued that evidence was suppressed from the jury that showed many prior occasions when the woman attempted to block or restrain him from leaving during a conflict. He maintained he was defending himself.

“If anyone sat through that trial, they’d come to that conclusion,” Sisti said. 

The decision to drop the case was, “really the only proper conclusion,” Sisti added.  

Woodburn was the highest-ranking Democrat in the state Senate when he was arrested in 2018. After his arrest, Woodburn ran for reelection but lost to Republican David Starr of Franconia.

Formella praised the woman who came forward in the case.

“We will continue to stand with the victim as she and her loved ones take the time they need to heal,” he said.