New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu has vetoed a bill to repeal the death penalty, but the measure is expected to prevail in the Legislature, which passed it with veto-proof majorities this session.
The Republican governor was surrounded by law enforcement officers in a ceremony in Manchester on Friday as he called the bill an injustice to slain police officer Michael Briggs, law enforcement, and victims of violent crimes.
The repeal would not apply retroactively to Michael Addison, who killed Briggs in 2006 and is the state's only death row inmate. But supporters of capital punishment argue courts could see it differently.
Sununu vetoed a similar bill last year. The Legislature did not have enough votes to override him. But momentum grew after Democrats won control of both the House and Senate in November.
