CONCORD, N.H. — A former New Hampshire Department of Corrections officer has been acquitted of second-degree murder charges in the death of a psychiatric patient during a 2022 incident at the Secure Psychiatric Unit (SPU) located within the Concord men’s prison.
On July 2, Merrimack County Superior Court jury found Matthew Millar not guilty on all counts related to the April 2022 death of 50-year-old Jason Rothe, the Concord Monitor reports. Millar, who was charged in February 2024, had been accused of causing Rothe’s death by kneeling on his back during a use-of-force incident.
Rothe died after refusing to leave a recreation area, prompting an extraction by multiple corrections officers, according to the Concord Monitor. Prosecutors alleged that Millar applied pressure to Rothe’s upper back and shoulder while the patient was face-down on a cement floor, contributing to compressional and positional asphyxiation. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Rothe’s death a homicide.
During the two-week trial, the prosecution argued that Millar used excessive and unnecessary force, continuing to restrain Rothe even after he had been subdued. Assistant Attorney General Christopher Knowles told the jury that Millar’s actions went beyond the bounds of a lawful restraint and contributed directly to Rothe’s death.
Millar’s defense team challenged both the cause of death and the characterization of their client’s role in the incident. Attorney Eric Raymond told jurors that Millar only placed his knee on Rothe for one to two seconds as a transitional move while attempting to handcuff him. The defense asserted Rothe died of a heart attack, not asphyxiation.
“The knees were only there for one to two seconds, and it was while Rothe was resistant,” Raymond said during closing arguments.
Defense attorneys also pointed to broader concerns within the Department of Corrections, arguing that agency training failures and decisions by supervisors — specifically then-SPU supervisor Lesley-Ann Cosgro — contributed to the chaotic extraction. The jury was also shown limited video footage of the incident; full documentation required by use-of-force policies had not been completed.
According to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, Millar’s case marked the only instance since at least early 2024 in which a police or corrections officer had been charged with unjustified use of deadly force. In 2024, the AG’s office reviewed nine incidents involving deadly force by police officers, all of which were ruled legally justified. Six officer-involved shootings have occurred so far in 2025; investigations into those cases remain ongoing.
