The dispute concerns a portion of the verdict form that asked jurors: “How many incidents does the jury unanimously believe plaintiff has proven by a preponderance of the evidence?” Jurors were not told that state law caps claims against the state at $475,000 per “incident.”

Some jurors later said they wrote “one” on the verdict form to indicate that they believed Meehan suffered from a single case of post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from more than 100 episodes of physical, sexual and emotional. The state interpreted the verdict to mean that jurors found him responsible for a single “incident” of abuse that occurred at the Manchester facility, now called Sununu Youth Services Center.

The judge denied Meehan’s motions for a new trial focused solely on determining the number of incidents or to overturn only the portion of the verdict in which jurors wrote one incident. He said an entirely new trial remains an option, but Meehan’s attorneys have not requested one.

Meehan, 42, went to police in 2017 and sued the state three years later. Since, 11 former civil servants were arrested, although one has since died and charges against another were dropped after the man, now in his 80s, was found incompetent to stand trial .

The only criminal case to go to trial so far ended in a mistrial in September, after jurors questioned whether the defendant, Victor Malavet, raped a young girl at a segregated public facility in Concord.

Bradley Asburywho has pleaded not guilty to restraining a teenager while other staff sexually assaulted him in Manchester, will face trial next week.