Supreme Court of New Hampshire

The State of New Hampshire v. Kristin Ruggiero

December 28, 2011163 N.H. 129

Summary

The court affirmed the defendant’s convictions for falsifying physical evidence and making a false report. It held that recordings lawfully made in another state were not excluded by New Hampshire’s wiretap statute, that the State sufficiently authenticated the defendant’s e-mails through direct and circumstantial evidence, and that the evidence supported the convictions. No separate opinions were filed.

Holding

  • Admissibility of recordings made outside New Hampshire. The recordings were admissible because their disclosure did not violate the New Hampshire wiretap statute. Even assuming that New Hampshire law governed admissibility, the statute did not apply where none of the interceptions occurred in New Hampshire and the calls were lawfully intercepted in another state.
  • Authentication of e-mails. The trial court properly admitted the four e-mails because the State presented sufficient direct and circumstantial evidence connecting them to the defendant.
  • Sufficiency of the evidence. The evidence was sufficient for a rational jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant presented text messages as communications from her former husband while knowing that representation was false and intending to deceive police.

Docket No. 2010-564

Cited authorities

  • Fed. R. Evid. 901

Cited by

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