Adam Montgomery is currently appealing his conviction for the 2019 murder of his daughter, Harmony, in New Hampshire. His appeal challenges the court's decision to hold a joint trial and the admittance of certain evidence. Montgomery was sentenced in May to 45 years to life after being convicted last year. His legal team has filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court, focusing on the merging of assault and murder charges, as well as the controversial inclusion of testimony from his estranged wife and a specific body camera video, according to reports from WCVB and the Boston Globe.
Montgomery's legal representation argues that the assault on Harmony in July 2019 and her subsequent death in December should have been tried as separate cases, the court, by combining them, might have influenced the jury to draw inappropriate connections between the two incidents; moreover, testimony from Montgomery’s estranged wife, Kayla, who served time for lying to a grand jury and struck a plea deal with prosecutors, has been put under scrutiny by the defense because it was allegedly bereft of the necessary factual connection, yet it painted a grim portrait of abuse and neglect.
The lack of Harmony's remains presents a continuing haunt over the case, while the defense challenges the permissible scope of evidence, particularly with regards to a body camera video from a 2021 encounter between Adam Montgomery and Manchester police—the audio was omitted, however, the defense contends that jurors could have unfavorably inferred Montgomery's demeanor as uncooperative in the search from the sole video evidence—a claim rooted in the assertion that the footage infringed upon his constitutional right to silence.
With the backdrop of a criminal case that lays bare the deficiencies in the child protective systems both in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, Adam Montgomery’s appeal encapsulates deeper reflections on the credibility of witnesses, the dissecting of charges, and what narratives we hold close when the tangible proof vanishes into air—like the undiscovered body of a young girl whose life ended too early—his attorneys fiercely contest the strength of Kayla Montgomery's allegations suggesting that, having known the police sought answers about Harmony while she faced incarceration, she may have had incentive to deflect blame, according to a statement obtained by the Boston Globe.
