| December 3, 2008 Addison's father details son's troubled childhood
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(NECN: Lauren Collins, Manchester, NH) - The defense wants jurors to use mercy, compassion, and understanding when they decide whether Michael Addison should spend the rest of his life in prison or die by lethal injection for the murder of Manchester police officer Michael Briggs.
Addison's mother, Cheryl Kiser, died earlier this year from chronic cocaine abuse. On Wednesday, his biological father described how both of them attempted, but failed to be good parents.
Michael Wilson said, "the alcohol played a serious part in inhibiting her from you know, being a better mother."
Attorneys hope to show that Addison's upbringing had more to do with his path in life than any conscience choice he ever made. Addison lived until high school in Brockton, with his maternal grandparents, who had custody of him. But he was still exposed as a child to rough neighborhoods in Boston, and to his mother's drug and alcohol abuse.
His father says Addison "didn't like the fact that she would drink, take off, and leave and not know when she was probably gonna be coming back home."
A number of people close to Michael Addison's family all describe his late mother as a deeply troubled woman unfit to parent. His aunt, Cathy Perry, says Kiser was "always looking to fight with somebody. I mean, if she saw somebody she didn't like, she would walk up and hit them. Or say something to them, to start a fight with them."
His great-aunt added, "by the time
Michael was born Cheryl was drinking heavily at that time."
Because of those problems, Addison was never supposed to be alone with his mother. Prosecutors were quick to point out, though, that his brother and sister, raised by their paternal grandparents, have turned out OK despite their shared exposure to violent, drug addicted parents.
The defense is expected to call witnesses for the next week before the jury begins deliberations.
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