HAILEY TRAYNHAM - 2 yo (2009) - Parental - ME / NH

Bail denied for Mainer who triggered Amber Alert

November 16, 2010

PORTLAND, Maine—A 39-year-old man who triggered Maine's first Amber Alert after allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend and abducting their 2-year-old daughter has had his bail request denied.

According to the Portland Press Herald, Superior Court Justice G. Arthur Brennan ruled that Gary Traynham, of Kennebunk, will remain in jail as he awaits trial on charges of gross sexual assault, aggravated assault, burglary and criminal restraint.

Prosecutors say Traynham broke into his ex-girlfriend's Sanford apartment last November, sexually assaulted her and took off with their daughter, which sparked the state's first Amber Alert.

Traynham and the girl were found the following day in New Hampshire.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in the trial of Gary Traynham.Police
said after Traynham assaulted his former girlfriend in November of
2009, he took their 2-year-old daughter, triggering Maine's first Amber
Alert.Traynham faces charges of gross sexual assault, aggravated
assault, burglary and criminal restraint. He is accused of physically
and sexually assaulting his former girlfriend in her Sanford apartment.Police said following the attack, Traynham took the couple's daughter, Hailey.Nearly
30 hours after Hailey was reported missing, a hunter in New Hampshire
recognized the truck Traynham was driving as well as Hailey and notified
police.Traynham turned himself in a short time later and has been held at the York County Jail ever since.

http://www.wmtw.com/r/27021785/detail.html

Prosecutors told jurors today that the man who prompted Maine's first Amber Alert raped the mother of his child and choked her.

Gary Traynham, 39, of Kennebunk is on trial in York County Superior
Court on charges of gross sexual assault, aggravated assault, criminal
restraint and burglary. He is not charged with any wrongdoing in
connection with taking his daughter, Hailey, from Sanford to New
Hampshire, where he ultimately turned himself in.

Traynham's lawyer, Amy Fairfield, told jurors that Traynham is a devoted
father, who was often prevented from seeing or speaking with his
daughter by her mother, Lisa Gould.

Fairfiled said that Traynham and Gould fought the morning of Nov. 9,
2009, but there is no evidence that Traynham raped his ex-girlfriend.

http://www.pressherald.com/news/Opening-arguments-in-trial-Amber-Alert-trial.html

The jury in the trial of Gary Traynham deliberated for three hours on Friday before adjourning for the weekend.

The
trial, being held in York County Superior Court, began Tuesday and
wrapped up Friday morning with closing arguments by Assistant District
Attorney Thad West and Traynham's defense attorney, Amy Fairfield.

Traynham,
39, is charged with gross sexual assault, aggravated assault, burglary
and criminal restraint, for allegedly breaking into the Sanford
apartment of his former girlfriend, Lisa Gould, assaulting her and then
fleeing in a borrowed pickup truck with their 2-year-old daughter.

The
November 2009 incident triggered Maine's first Amber Alert, and
resulted in widespread news coverage both in Maine and neighboring New
Hampshire, where Traynham and his daughter were finally found.

The
activation of the Amber Alert system triggered emergency television and
radio broadcasts and information on electronic signs on major highways
to alert the public that a child had been abducted. Police patrols were
also increased in targeted areas.

Sanford Police responded to a
911 call following the alleged incident and, after gathering evidence
from the apartment and interviewing the victim, they requested a warrant
for Traynham's arrest. They also determined the abduction met the
criteria for an Amber Alert.

Traynham and his daughter were
located 30 hours later on a dirt road in Milton, N.H., by a hunter who
recognized the vehicle from the description given in the Amber Alert.
The hunter convinced Traynham to turn himself in.

Traynham has
been held at the York County Jail in Alfred since his arrest. A request
in November 2010 that he be free on bail while awaiting trial was
denied.

Addressing the jury on Friday, Thad West reviewed the
charges against Traynham, pointing out that, according to Gould's
testimony as well as the testimony of other witnesses, Traynham was
guilty of a violent rape with an attempt to strangle the victim.

Reviewing
evidence presented during the previous three days, West mentioned the
pickup truck that Traynham borrowed the morning of Nov. 9, 2009, saying
he had an appointment with the Department of Health and Human Services.

"Instead he bought beer," West said.

Traynham
was seen that morning in the parking lot of Gould's apartment complex,
West said. And his cell phone records show that he had made several
phone calls to Gould the morning of Nov. 9 and in the days leading up to
that time — evidence that Traynham was "stalking" Gould, West said.

West
acknowledged that although an internal test (rape test) did not find
Traynham's DNA on Gould, she had his DNA under her fingernails from her
struggle with him. West drew jurors' attention to a photo of Traynham
showing the cuts and scratches inflicted by Gould.

He also
referred to strips of duct tape that were found in Gould's apartment and
with which, Gould said, Traynham had allegedly bound Gould during the
assault.

West pointed out that much of the evidence supports
Gould's testimony, but that in Maine jurors do not have to rely on the
amount of evidence presented.

"If you believe her, that is enough," West said.

During
her closing arguments, Amy Fairfield portrayed Gould as either a woman
with a "selective memory," a liar, or both. Fairfield cited Gould's
frequent responses to questions during her testimony — "There was a lot
of, 'I don't remember,' and 'I can't recall,'" Fairfield said.

"I think what it comes down to is, can you believe Miss Gould?" Fairfield asked the jurors.

Fairfield
said her client admitted that he and Gould had an altercation, that
they had argued, and that when he and his daughter were found, he
admitted to Michael Grant (the hunter who found them) that he had taken
his daughter from Gould and fled. But, Fairfield pointed out, Traynham
also told Grant — "a complete stranger" — that he did not sexually
assault Gould.

Fairfield pointed out several inconsistencies in Gould's statements.

She
recalled for the jury that Gould said (during her testimony on
Thursday) that she was not able to yell for help because of the injuries
she sustained when Traynham strangled her. But, Fairfield pointed out,
another witness, a neighbor who lived upstairs from Gould, said he had
heard Gould yelling, "Don't take my baby!"

Fairfield also
recalled that a doctor had stated that Gould's windpipe was fine, that
there were no internal injuries and that her injuries were consistent
with being grabbed around the neck.

She pointed out
inconsistencies in Gould's responses to questions about the alleged
sexual assault. Asked when it had happened, Fairfield said Gould had
said during her testimony that "it must have happened when she passed
out." When asked about it again, Fairfield said Gould had responded, "I
think something happened."

As for the numerous phone calls from
Traynham, Fairfield said her client was calling because he wanted to see
his daughter. She read a summary of calls Traynham made to Gould
between Oct. 27 — the day after he moved out of the apartment he and
Gould and their daughter shared — and Nov. 9, 2009. The summary showed
that Traynham called several times a day, and one day he called 14
times.

"Yes, he was calling her because he wanted to see (his daughter)," Fairfield said.

"Things aren't always as they seem," she said.

After
about an hour of deliberation on Friday, the jury sent a note to
Justice G. Arthur Brennan requesting clarification on issues concerning
items found at Gould's apartment and on Traynham's right of access to
the apartment.

The jury will reconvene on Monday at 9 a.m.

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110305/GJNEWS_01/703059920

A York County jury Monday afternoon
found the man accused of triggering Maine's first Amber Alert guilty on
two charges, but could not reach a verdict on two others.Gary
Traynham was convicted of aggravated assault and criminal restraint.
The jury deadlocked on the charges of gross sexual assault and burglary.Prosecutors
said Traynham sexually assaulted Lisa Gould in front of their daughter,
who was 2 at the time, and then took the child to New Hampshire.That triggered Maine's first Amber Alert.A hunter found Traynham and his daughter the next day.Traynham's lawyer said his client adamantly denies that he sexually assaulted Gould.Traynham will be sentenced in two weeks.Prosecutors have not said if they will retry Traynham on the gross sexual assault and burglary charges.

http://www.wmtw.com/r/27103660/detail.html

The Maine man convicted of aggravated assault and criminal restraint for
assaulting his former girlfriend and then fleeing with the couple's
2-year-old daughter has asked the court to overturn the jury's decision.

Gary Traynham, 40, has filed, through his attorney, a motion for judgment of acquittal on the charge of aggravated assault.

Traynham
was charged with gross sexual assault, aggravated assault, burglary and
criminal restraint for allegedly breaking into the Sanford apartment of
his former girlfriend, Lisa Gould, assaulting her and then fleeing in a
borrowed pick-up truck with their daughter.

The November 2009
incident resulted in Maine's first Amber Alert and in widespread news
coverage in Maine and New Hampshire, where Traynham and his daughter
were found 30 hours later.

The Amber Alert system triggered
emergency television and radio broadcasts and information on electronic
signs on major highways to alert the public that a child had been
abducted. Police patrols were also increased in targeted areas.

Jurors
heard more than three days of testimony during the weeklong trial
earlier this month. They deliberated for more than eight hours over two
days before returning guilty verdicts on the charges of aggravated
assault and criminal restraint, but were unable to reach a unanimous
decision on the charges of burglary and gross sexual assault.

In
her motion for a judgment of acquittal, Traynham's attorney, Amy L.
Fairfield, argued that no reasonable jury could have concluded that,
based on the evidence presented at the trial, Gould's injuries met the
criteria for aggravated assault as described in Maine law.

When
Traynham was indicted by a York County grand jury in January 2010, he
was charged with "aggravated assault/indifference," or, according to the
statute, intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causing bodily injury
to Gould "under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the
value of human life."

Those circumstances, according to the
Maine Criminal Code, "include, but are not limited to, the number,
location or nature of the injuries, the manner or method inflicted, or
the observable physical condition of the victim."

Fairfield's
motion for acquittal states that, based on the evidence presented at
trial, the jury could have concluded that Gould "sustained bruising and
red marks on her neck consistent with... having had pressure applied to
her throat by a human hand or hands, that pressure was in fact applied
by a human hand or hands...," but also "that she suffered no long-term
injuries, and that her objectively observable injuries were...
relatively unremarkable in appearance."

Traynham does not dispute
that Gould suffered "bodily injury" during the Nov. 9, 2009 incident,
according to the motion, but that the evidence does not show that the
injury was inflicted with "extreme indifference to the value of human
life."

According to the motion, the Maine Law Court has held that
extreme indifference requires "a serious impairment to life as a
value..." and that even if the assault did not result in death or
serious bodily injury, death or bodily injury was "reasonably likely to
result from the defendant's conduct in light of all the circumstances
surrounding it."

Fairfield points out in the motion that a
medical doctor, George Stockwell, D.O., testifying for the defense, said
Gould's injuries were relatively minor and that there was no evidence
of petechiae — small red dots caused by damage to tiny blood capillaries
right under the skin — "which would very likely have resulted from a
strangulation taken to a point at or near unconsciousness... "

Fairfield also points out that the state's medical witnesses did not contradict Stockwell's observations.

The motion asserts that "no reasonable jury could therefore conclude beyond a reasonable doubt"
that Traynham's conduct showed an extreme indifference to the value of
human life. Fairfield asks that the court therefore enter a judgment of
acquittal on the charge of aggravated assault.

A hearing on the motion has been scheduled for April 14 in York County Superior Court in Alfred.

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110330/GJNEWS_01/703309949&template=RochesterRegion

Traynham Attorney Seeks Acquittal

Gary Traynham Convicted Of Assault


POSTED: 3:26 pm EDT April 20, 2011
UPDATED: 4:02 pm EDT April 20, 2011

ALFRED, Maine -- The lawyer for the man accused of sparking Maine's first Amber Alert was in court Wednesday asking a judge for a motion for judgment of acquittal.

Gary Traynham never faced any charges in connection with taking his daughter across state lines, but he was convicted last month of aggravated assault and criminal restraint related to a fight involving his daughter's mother.A jury dead-locked on the more serious charges of gross sexual assault and burglary.

Traynham's lawyer argued Wednesday that the victim's injuries did not rise to the level of an aggravated assault charge and the conviction should be thrown out.If the judge grants the acquittal on the aggravated assault conviction, the defendant will be sentenced solely on the criminal restraint conviction, which carries a maximum of one year in prison.

The judge said he would have a decision by Friday.

A York County Superior Court judge has denied a bid by a Kennebunk
man to overturn a jury’s guilty verdict on an aggravated assault
charge.

Gary Traynham, whose flight to New Hampshire with his
2-year-old daughter, Hailey, in November 2009 sparked Maine’s first
Amber Alert, was originally charged with four counts involving his
former girlfriend, Lisa Gould. A jury in March deliberated more than
eight hours and convicted Traynham of aggravated assault and criminal
restraint, but deadlocked on two other charges: Gross sexual assault and
burglary.

His attorney, Amy Fairfield argued Wednesday that the
evidence in the case did not support the aggravated assault charge of
bodily injury inflicted “under circumstances manifesting extreme
indifference to the value of human life,” as required by statute.

Justice
G. Arthur Brennan wrote that there was “no question” that Traynham
intentionally and knowingly caused some measure of harm to the victim.

“The
issue is whether the evidence supports the jury finding that the bodily
injury occurred under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to
the value of human life,” Brennan wrote in the order denying the
request for a judgment of acquittal.

Traynham and Gould had been a couple, but reportedly split up about two weeks before the Nov. 9, 2009 incident.

Traynham
was accused of assaulting Gould in her Sanford apartment, throwing her
across a room and choking her. She testified at trial that she blacked
out, and said when she regained consciousness she was being sexually
assaulted. She was treated at hospital.

Fairfield, Traynham’s attorney, noted that no follow-up medical care was ordered.

Following
the incident, Traynham then scooped up their 2-year-old daughter and
drove away. The pair was found by a hunter on a woods road in Milton,
N.H. about 30 hours later. None of the charges Traynham faced involved
the little girl.

Brennan noted that three doctors testified at
trial and agreed that manual strangulation is dangerous and can cause
death or serious injury.


“The degree of risk involves the amount and duration of the
pressure applied to the neck, with loss of consciousness an important
factor,” Brennan wrote. “Extreme indifference requires a showing, under
all circumstances surrounding the event, of serious impairment to life
as a value; a showing that while death or serious bodily injury did not
occur, nevertheless a grave result was a reasonably likely outcome.”

He
concluded that on the facts presented – viewed most favorably to the
state as required by law – a rational jury could conclude that the
bodily injury suffered by the victim met the requirements of the
statute.

Assistant District Attorney Thaddeus West told reporters
following a hearing Wednesday that he had not yet decided whether to
recharge Traynham with gross sexual assault and burglary, the two
charges that had the jury deadlocked.

Sentencing on the aggravated assault and criminal restraint charges has not yet been set.

Aggravated
assault is a Class B felony and carries a maximum sentence of 10 years
in prison. Criminal restraint is a misdemeanor, which carries a maximum
sentence of 364 days in jail.

http://www.journaltribune.com/articles/2011/04/23/news/doc4db2217b1ba4a334707017.txt

Man in Maine Amber Alert case sentenced to 6 years in prison

June 07, 2011 - 2:31 pm
ALFRED, Maine — A Maine man who triggered the state's first Amber Alert is going to prison for six years.

Gary Traynham, of Kennebunk, was sentenced Monday in
York County Superior Court for assaulting his former girlfriend and
taking off with their 2-year-old daughter to New Hampshire in November
2009. He was convicted in March on charges of aggravated assault and
criminal restraint.

According to WMTW-TV, Traynham will be on probation for five years once his sentence is complete.

The 39-year-old Traynham broke into his ex-girlfriend's
Sanford apartment and took off with their daughter, setting off a
30-hour manhunt across three states. Traynham and the girl were found by
a hunter the following day on a logging road in Milton, N.H.
___
Information from: WMTW-TV, http://www.wmtw.com