The New Hampshire Supreme Court is reversing the sex assault convictions of a man charged with raping a 5-year-old child at a Newmarket day care center because police did not read him is Miranda rights prior to his interrogation.
The court in its 3-2 ruling released Tuesday reversed the convictions of 43-year-old Timothy McKenna, convicted of sexually assaulting the young girl repeated between 1997 and 2002 at the day care center run by his then-girlfriend.
The majority ruled that McKenna was effectively in custody when two Newmarket police officers forbade him from walking toward a wooded area during an interview on his Errol property. Two justices dissented, calling that directive "wholly inadequate" to support reversal.
An attorney for the state said she was unprepared to comment on the ruling.
