Officials: Dodds Will Remain In Jail
DOVER, N.H. — Former New Hampshire congressional candidate Gary Dodds will remain in jail, possibly after he is eligible to be released into home confinement.
Strafford County Department of Corrections Superintendent Warren Dowaliby said that Dodds would remain in custody “until such time as I am satisfied that he can be safely (his own safety and that of the public) monitored in the community.”
The announcement came after Dodds returned to jail following a trip to a hospital when jail officials found him unresponsive in his cell.
Dodds had been in jail since July 3 following his arrest on charges that he assaulted his wife. He was convicted previously of faking a disappearance to boost a lackluster congressional campaign, a conviction he is appealing.
Dodds’ original sentence included a year of home confinement after 20 days in jail. But because of the bail violation, corrections officials can determine whether Dodds should be released to home confinement.
County Attorney Tom Velardi said Thursday that he does not know what prompted Dodds’ behavior, but he said the episode showed Dodds has a history of faking medical and psychological maladies. He said rescuers reported at the time Dodds would shut his eyes and stop talking when asked questions he did not want to answer.
Velardi said Dodds was refusing to speak with jail officers on Wednesday and was taken to the hospital. He said Dodds was found to be in good health but refused to speak with hospital personnel and was returned to the jail.
Dodds’ wife and his attorney, J.P. Nadeau, showed up to see him at the hospital.
“I tried to communicate with him,” Nadeau said. “He’s still not responsive. He appears to have a level of consciousness, but I tried a couple of times to communicate with him, and he was not communicating.”
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