Ex-congressional hopeful on trial in NH

A one-time congressional candidate faced the opening of a trial Tuesday on charges alleging he faked a story about getting lost after a car crash and disappearing for a day in an attempt to boost his lagging campaign.

Gary Dodds is charged with falsifying evidence, a felony, and misdemeanor charges of leaving the scene of an accident and causing false public alarm.

Prosecutors, set to deliver opening statements Tuesday, say Dodds had worrisome campaign debts and was facing a possible investigation by the Federal Election Commission at the time of the crash. They say he had taken out two mortgages on the family's house to finance his campaign and the FEC was considering auditing the campaign's finances.

Dodds' lawyer, J.P. Nadeau, has accused prosecutors of watching too many television crime shows.

Dodds, 43, a Rye businessman, struck a highway guardrail in Dover the evening of April 5, 2006, saying later that he swerved to avoid hitting a deer. He said he crossed a river in a daze, and wandered in a forest during a chilly night.

Dodds was found the next day, a mile from the crash scene under a pile of leaves, fading in and out of consciousness and missing a shoe. He led the jury to the scene Monday afternoon in preparation for the trial.

Dodds was treated at Portsmouth Regional Hospital for hypothermia, a concussion and frostbite. A hospital official said Dodds had "situational amnesia" and significant nerve damage to his feet. The official said blood tests provided no evidence of drug or alcohol use.

On Monday, Judge Peter Fauver ruled in favor of defense attorneys, barring introduction of allegations that Dodds have spent part of the time when he was believed to be missing with a campaign worker with whom he allegedly was having an affair.

Authorities estimate they spent $18,000 searching for Dodds with teams assisted by dogs and a helicopter.

After a brief hospitalization and time off to recuperate, Dodds resumed campaigning, limping and walking with a cane. Never considered a contender, Dodds placed third in the four-way Democratic primary, losing to Carol Shea-Porter, who defeated Republican Rep. Jeb Bradley in the general election.