Seven years, five arrests, no convictions: Lawmaker insists, ‘I am not a criminal’
With five arrests in the past seven years, all annulled, state Rep. Brian J. Stone definitely has subject-matter expertise regarding legislation he has introduced that would make it easier to erase criminal charges from the public record.
During his successful 2016 campaign for the House seat representing Northwood, Stone’s critics publicized his 2015 arrest for violating a protective order. Court documents related to a job discrimination complaint Stone filed with the Social Security Administration (SSA) reveal four additional, previously unreported, arrests.
The court case grew out of Stone’s 2014 job application for a position with the SSA in Littleton. After multiple interviews, Stone was the leading candidate for the job and was told there was a strong likelihood that he would be offered the position, according to court documents. A few days later, however, the district manager called Stone and notified him that he would not be hired because of an arrest record that was uncovered by his FBI background check.
After being turned down for the job, Stone filed a formal discrimination complaint with the agency claiming that he had been illegally discriminated against because of his national origin (Moroccan), his marital status, his parental status and conduct that would not adversely affect job performance – his arrest record.
A series of ‘misunderstandings’
The ensuing report by an SSA investigator noted that Stone’s background check revealed he had been arrested three times in 2011 and was then under indictment for multiple charges resulting from a 2013 courthouse confrontation.
Stone’s background check revealed he had been arrested three times in 2011 and was then under indictment for multiple charges resulting from a 2013 courthouse confrontation.
The background check indicated Stone was first arrested on July 28, 2011 and charged with criminal threatening. According to the court documents, Stone told the investigator that the arrest occurred during a traffic stop and was the result of a “mix-up with his license being suspended or not being current.” He added, “The whole thing was a misunderstanding and eventually got resolved.”
In October of that year, the report noted Stone was arrested again and charged with simple assault. 19 days later, according to the report, he was arrested and charged with violation of a protective order, breach of bail and two charges of criminal mischief.
In his SSA job application, Stone had notified the agency that he was under indictment for charges that arose from an October 17, 2013 confrontation at the Rockingham Superior Court. In the three-count indictment, Stone was charged with attempting to carry a firearm into a courthouse, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass. He admitted to the investigator that he was originally also charged with impersonating a police officer but he said that charge was dismissed because of his position with the Army Reserve military police.
The indictment alleged that Stone attempted to enter the courthouse with a firearm “telling court security that he was a law enforcement officer when he claimed to be a federal agent,” that he “demanded entrance into the court house with a firearm and began yelling profanity at court security when refused entrance” and that he defied an order by court security to leave the building and store his firearm in his car.
Stone described the incident as a “misunderstanding” and said “he did not do anything wrong.” He acknowledged “he brought a gun into a courthouse” but told the investigator that “he never actually brought it past the metal detector.” He explained, “The Court Security Officer asked him to secure the gun in his car and he did not think that was a safe thing to do.”
The agency’s human resources director told the investigator that, in her opinion, the results of the background check “indicated a pattern of violent behavior that sustained her decision” that Stone was unsuitable for the position.
‘I am not a criminal’
While awaiting a final determination from the SSA on his job discrimination complaint, Stone was arrested again, this time in Durham, for violating a protective order, which he described as a “temporary order” that was issued when he and his wife separated.
“The charge stemmed from a misunderstanding regarding me being in the same location as my wife by happenstance,” Stone explained in a letter to the editor of The Forum. “I followed the guidelines of the temporary order and contacted the local police myself. The charge was nolle prossed (dropped) by the county prosecutor.”
After the SSA denied Stone’s discrimination claim on July 14, 2015, he filed a civil suit in federal court against the acting commissioner of the SSA. “I believe that I have been a victim of federal employment discrimination,” Stone wrote in his complaint. “I did not engage in criminal conduct, and accusations of criminal conduct does not meet the standard of actual criminal conduct.”
”I am not a criminal,” he added. “An arrest record is not necessarily a criminal record.”
On December 21, 2015, Stone’s lawsuit was dismissed following a recommendation from Magistrate Judge Andrea K. Johnstone that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction.
In an email to Miscellany Blue, Stone declined to discuss the particulars of his arrest record but noted that all of the arrests described in this article resulted “in either not being prosecuted, had a finding of not guilty, or were dismissed” and that each arrest has been annulled.
New Hampshire state law stipulates that a person whose record is annulled “shall be treated in all respects as if he or she had never been arrested, convicted or sentenced.” Court records relating to an annulled arrest, conviction, or sentence are sealed and are not available to the general public.
Mr. Stone goes to Concord
In 2016, Stone ran for a seat in the state House, after unsuccessful attempts in 2014, when he lost a Republican primary for the Rockingham District 1 House seat, and in 2015, when he lost a Republican primary in a special election for the Rockingham District 32 floterial seat. On his third try, Stone was unopposed for the Republican nomination and won the District 1 seat with 52 per cent of the vote.
After taking office, Stone introduced legislation that would have automatically annulled arrest records for cases (like his) that resulted in a finding of not guilty or resulted in the case being dismissed or not prosecuted – including arrests prior to enactment of the annulment statute if requested.
The Department of Safety estimated the bill would have required an additional five full-time staffers to process annulment requests, search and remove the record from the state Criminal History Record Information system and contact the FBI for removal of the offenses. The proposed legislation was rejected by the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee as “costly and unworkable” in a 19-2 vote and was tabled by the House in a voice vote.
This session, Stone has introduced legislation that would reduce the waiting period for filing a petition for annulment of a criminal record. “Someone shouldn’t have to wait another 3 years to make an annulment request if they make a mistake on their original annulment application,” Stone wrote in his email to Miscellany Blue. “It doesn’t serve the public or private interests of anyone.”
Perhaps reflecting on his own situation, Stone added, “With arrest records being used to stain someone’s reputation when they have only been accused of a crime, or have served their time, it is important to let individuals move on. It is not in society’s interest to publicly persecute those who may be innocent, are presumed to be innocent under the law, or have served their time.”