Judge Refuses To Move Gribble Trial, Restrict Prosecutors' Words

NASHUA, N.H. -- A man who admitted killing a Mont Veon woman and injuring her daughter has lost his bid to have his insanity trial moved and to restrict prosecutors from using certain words.

Attoeys for Christopher Gribble asked Judge Gillian Abramson to move the trial, citing intense media attention during the trial of Steven Spader, who was found guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of Kimberly Cates, of Mont Veon.

The defense also asked Abramson to ban prosecutors from staring down their client and using words such as "slaughter" and "ambush" during the trial.

"And when, in opening statements, the defendant is repeatedly referred to as 'cold-blooded killers,' that has taken the emotional level of the case to a higher level," said defense attoey Donna Brown.

But Senior Assistant Attoey General Jeff Strelzin said prosecutors should be able to use the language that's appropriate to describe the crime.

"It's difficult to understand how it's not fair and accurate to call 50 stab wounds and pieces of flesh being hacked off a 'slaughter,'" Strelzin said. "And to call a defendant who stood before you and admitted he committed all six of the crimes he's accused of a 'killer' ... and to call sneaking into someone's bedroom in the middle of the night a 'slaughter.'"

Abramson said micromanaging the state's vocabulary is not the court's responsibility.

"If I see prosecutorial misconduct, I will address it, but short of that, I'm not going to tu into a thesaurus up here, which is what I think you are asking the court to do," she said.

Prosecutors conditionally agreed to other pretrial motions from the defense, including blocking graphic photographs and blocking the Cates' relatives from testifying. But the judge stood by one more ruling regarding Gribble's request to have access to a pen in the courtroom.

"I don't believe my ruling interferes with the defendant's access to counsel," she said. "He can use a large, felt-tip marker."

Abramson said that given the nature of the stabbing crimes Gribble has admitted to, she doesn't want him using anything that could be weaponized.

She also said she will unseal her ruling on the admissibility of Gribble's confession to police after the jury is chosen. Jury selection begins at the end of February.