After Appeal Fails On Concord Drunken Driving Conviction, Her 3rd, New London Woman Sent To Jail

CONCORD, NH — A woman from New London, who was convicted of drunken driving for a third time last year, failed at her attempt to escape jail time after appealing to the Merrimack County Superior Court in August.

Jessica Fitzgerald, 42, of Cottage Lane in New London, lost her appeal last month on a driving while intoxicated-third offense conviction in Merrimack County Superior Court and was sentenced to 30 days in jail and a fine.

Fitzgerald was initially stopped on Interstate 89 north around 1:41 a.m. on Aug. 29, 2024, near Mile Marker 2.2 in Concord by a New Hampshire State Police trooper. She was charged with DUI-third offense, DUI-second, DUI, and open container, and released on personal recognizance. The state trooper in the case said Fitzgerald had an open container of White Claw in the passenger area of the vehicle. She pleaded not guilty in October 2024. On Feb. 25, Fitzgerald was found guilty in Concord District Court on the third offense and acquitted on the open container violation. The DUI and DUI-second offense charges were dismissed.

Fitzgerald and public defenders assisting her immediately appealed the verdict. Her attorneys filed several motions during the appeal.

In mid-March, Thomas Ficarra, her first defense attorney, requested copies of the body-worn camera footage of the arrest be shared with the defense and protected, which Judge Martin Honigberg approved.

In late July, just after the final pretrial hearing, Katharine Courville, who became Fitzgerald’s public defender in late June, requested exclusion of the horizontal gaze nystagmus test due to its unreliability, since it was deemed “incomplete.” During the traffic stop in late August 2024, the trooper performed “multiple field sobriety tests,” and attempted to perform the horizontal gaze nystagmus twice, she said. During that test, however, the trooper did not ask if Fitzgerald had any eyesight issues and did not follow the instruction manual, requiring the stimulus to be held at a height slightly above her eye level. In court testimony, Courville said, he confirmed these issues.

Honigberg agreed with Courville at a ruling on Aug. 5, and the evidence was not admitted.

Courville also attempted to have Fitzgerald’s two prior convictions removed from the jury’s consideration at trial.

Even without the evidence of horizontal gaze nystagmus, the jury convicted her after a trial on August 6. Courville did not return an email seeking comment on whether Fitzgerald planned to appeal the appeal after the jury’s verdict.

On Aug. 25, Fitzgerald was sentenced to 180 days in jail with a minimum of 30 days served and 150 days suspended for one year. After being released, she will be on probation for 12 months and will be required not to operate a motor vehicle unless properly licensed, shall not possess or use alcohol, and shall not have or use nonprescribed drugs or deadly weapons. She was also fined $750 plus a $180 assessment to be paid by June 15, 2026. Fitzgerald can reapply for her license in five years, and when she does, she must have an interlock device attached to the vehicle for at least a year.

The sentence was the same as the one issued to her in Concord District Court.

Honigberg allowed Fitzgerald two weeks to get her affairs in order and she checked in to the county jail Friday.

According to court records, Fitzgerald was found guilty of aggravated driving under the influence in Newport District Court in May 2017 and driving under the influence in Newport District Court in February 2018.

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