Supreme Court upholds case of sexually violent predator after rape at Valley Cemetery

July 12 – The process to classify Amuri Diole as a sexually violent offender continues after the New Hampshire Supreme Court sided with the opinion of a superior court judge who ruled that he raped a woman during a violent assault at Valley Cemetery in Manchester in 2021.

A sex offender is someone who has been convicted of sexually violent crimes and “suffers from a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes the person likely to engage in sexual violence unless placed in a secure institution for long-term control, care and treatment.”

The case has been on hold since Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge Diane Nicolosi issued an order in September 2022 in a civil case brought by the Hillsborough County District Attorney’s Office. The order came after a two-day hearing before a single judge, the first under a provision of the state’s sexually violent sex offender law for someone deemed insane.

The Supreme Court confirmed the finding in a written decision on Thursday following an appeal.

As part of the process, Diole, 30, will be examined by a team of medical professionals and could be placed somewhere other than prison, such as the locked psychiatric unit on the grounds of the New Hampshire State Penitentiary.

“The defendant’s appeal has paused the sexually violent offender certification process for some time. We will now continue to move it forward to completion,” District Attorney Shawn Sweeney said in a statement.

Diole was declared incompetent to stand trial twice for felony crimes before he raped a woman in the city cemetery in 2021. A person declared incompetent to stand trial for a sex crime is subject to this provision.

Most defendants who are not prosecuted are released. If they are deemed dangerous, they may be sent to a state hospital but are released after treatment.

Diole was charged with four counts of aggravated sexual assault.

According to Nicolosi’s order, the victim met Diole outside a restaurant on Union Street, he offered to smoke marijuana with her, eventually dragged her to the cemetery and attacked her for two hours.

“The State’s case is very persuasive,” the judge wrote. “It is supported by evidence found at the crime scene, eyewitness accounts and recordings of the aftermath, and a contemporary and striking recording of the rape.”

Public defender Kim Kossick argued in court that important medical records had not been presented and that two packets of heroin were found on the victim.

In his appeal, Kossick argued that a jury trial should have been granted.

Kossick did not respond to an email requesting comment on Thursday afternoon.

If Diole is classified as a sex offender, there will be another trial where defense attorneys can try to refute that classification.

The civil case came about after an attempt to have Diole declared a dangerous person and placed in a state psychiatric clinic failed in probate court.

The rape occurred days after Diole was released from Valley Street Jail in April 2021 after the district attorney failed to enforce his bond in probate court.