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Bar News - September 19, 2003 Judge Peter Smith to Retire at 65; Served 34 Years on District, Superior Court By: Lisa Segal A Fixture of North Country Courts AFTER 18 YEARS on the NH Superior Court bench, most of them spent in the North Country counties, Associate Justice Peter W. Smith says he'll miss his co-workers, but he's ready for more family time. Although he has not reached the mandatory retirement age of 70, Smith will retire Oct. 17 at the age of 65. "You get to the point where you want more time to spend with your children and grandchildren," said Smith, a father of three daughters and grandfather of four grandchildren. He and his wife of 41 years, Buffi, plan to spend a month in Florida and do some traveling, as well, upon Smith's retirement. He may eventually also do some teaching. Counting his part-time service in district courts in Lincoln and Littleton, Smith has been a judge in the state courts for 34 years. He said that his retirement will be bittersweet. "I will miss terribly the people I work with. They are what I have enjoyed most about this job - the people who work in the court system. For me, they made coming to work every day delightful," he said. "They do their jobs with pride, they are such a great group of people to associate with." What Smith will not miss about the job, what he considers the biggest challenge of being a judge, is dealing with those individuals who come to court not seeking justice, but "revenge." "The big jury trials are easy compared to dealing with someone who comes in with a chip on his shoulder. In a situation like that, it's challenging to maintain a balance in the process and treat people equally," Smith said. But Smith will not be leaving the bench completely. He is taking senior status and has told NH Superior Court Chief Justice Walter Murphy that he will be available to hear cases in the future. A graduate of Holy Cross and Boston University Law School, Smith went to work as an attorney for the Internal Revenue Service after graduating from law school in 1963. One year later, he was admitted to the NH Bar and joined the NH Attorney General's Office, where he worked for two years. Francis Moulton then hired Smith to work in his Littleton law firm, Dodge & Moulton (which later became Dodge, Moulton & Smith) in 1966. Smith served as a special justice of Littleton District Court beginning in 1969 and was appointed justice of that court in 1979. He sat on the Littleton bench until his appointment to the superior court in 1985. He also served as special justice of Lincoln District Court from 1971-1979. Smith's time on the superior court bench has been divided between Coos and Grafton counties - the two counties that have been impacted least by recent judicial branch budget woes. Neither superior court has found itself short-staffed due to budget constraints, Smith said, although he has witnessed a lack of upgrades in programs and computer technology as a result of belt-tightening. Another result of budget cutbacks that Smith witnessed was Chief Justice Murphy's request of Gov. Craig Benson that Benson not fill Smith's judicial vacancy upon his retirement. "I understand what Judge Murphy is attempting to accomplish. The money from my salary and benefits can be used to add several people to the courts that have been hardest hit in the state," Smith said. Although computerization of the courts has stalled in recent tight times, Smith said that the level of technology and information now used by the courts has been the biggest change he has observed during his 18 years on the superior court bench. Something that didn't change during his tenure on the bench has been the high quality of the jury system in our state. Smith said that in all his years on the bench, he has found only one jury to have made a mistake - a fact he shares with each jury that sits in his courtroom. "The jury system is superb, in my opinion. You have a group of people from diverse backgrounds who always make the right decision," he said. Smith said he carries with him a lot of poignant memories of his years as a judge, including the case of State v. Prado, which was one of his early cases in superior court. The defendant in the case eventually pled guilty to second degree murder for killing his wife and seriously wounding her boyfriend and was sent to state prison for 30 years. "I watched the process work - there was no question he should have been punished for the crimes he committed," said Smith. But this was also a case of seeing the rehabilitative process work, he said. Prado was a model inmate and became an accomplished artist while in prison, and after serving 20 years came before Smith asking that his minimum parole date be reduced. Smith agreed to it. "He had turned things around and was going to be a productive citizen. The system had worked well." Smith said that the major civil cases that came before him were also notable. "I will remember the lawyers as excellent practitioners there to try the cases. There was no animosity among them. They were there to get the facts out to the jury and do it in an intelligent, courteous fashion," he said. The career accomplishment of which Smith is most proud: "My attempt to maintain the integrity of the judicial process." "Sometimes I failed miserably at it," he joked. Smith's colleagues would be quick to point out that he did not fail in those attempts. Coos County Superior Court Clerk David Carlson, who has worked with Smith for the past two years, described him as a "knowledgeable and compassionate judge who will be missed." Carlson has known Smith since 1985, when he was a practicing attorney, and said that even when Smith ruled against him in a case, he always felt that the judge's decisions were "well-reasoned and thoughtful." As court clerk, Carlson has found Smith to be very open to and supportive of changes Carlson has proposed for Coos Superior, and a judge who is very accessible to the staff. "He is always available to rule on emergency or ex parte motions, and he always takes the time to meet with me if I have an issue that needs discussing," Carlson said. Barbara Hogan, currently clerk of Cheshire County Superior Court, worked with Smith for 10 years from 1991-2001 as clerk in Coos County. She described Smith as "wonderful" and "a pleasure to work with." "He is a great teacher, a great mentor and a fine human being, as well as a dedicated family man who treats his staff as if they are members of his extended family," Hogan said. She said that as a judge, Smith was "careful, dedicated and knowledgeable about both the law and the geographic area in which he sat." When making rulings, he took into consideration factors unique to the North Country, such as employment opportunities and the tax burden, Hogan said. "His humanity was a very important aspect of his being a judge. He had a deep understanding of the North Country and the people who lived there, and how the area impacts their lives, and he viewed any decision he made from that perspective." Smith said he will miss sitting on the bench and is thankful for the years he was able to serve the North Country as a judge. "I have truly enjoyed this job for the 18 years that I did it. I was extremely lucky to have been given the chance to do it," he said.
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