ORDER This case came before the Supreme Court on October 7, 2015, pursuant to an order directing the parties to appear and show cause why the issues raised in this appeal should not summarily be decided. We conclude that cause has not been shown and that the appeal may be decided at this time. For the reasons set forth herein, we affirm the judgment of the Superior Court. Following a trial in 2000, applicant, Juan Martinez, was convicted of one count of sexual assault in the first degree. He...
ORDER This case came before the Supreme Court on October 7, 2015, pursuant to an order directing the parties to appear and show cause why the issues raised in this appeal should not summarily be decided. We conclude that cause has not been shown and that the appeal may be decided at this time. For the reasons set forth herein, we affirm the judgment of the Superior Court. In 1988, applicant, Stephen Mattatall, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to sixty years imprisonment,...
OPINION Justice FLAHERTY , for the Court. Following a jury-waived trial before a justice of the Superior Court, the defendant, Francis Kolsoi, was convicted of five counts of stalking in violation of G.L.1956 11-59-2. The trial justice imposed a sentence of probation on each count to run concurrently. The defendant timely appealed his conviction to this Court. The matter came before us on October 7, 2015, under an order directing the parties to appear and show cause why the issues...
OPINION Justice GOLDBERG , for the Court. The defendant, James Oliveira (defendant or Oliveira), appeals from a Superior Court judgment of conviction on one count of first-degree child molestation. Oliveira raises two issues on appeal. First, he claims that the forty-five-month delay between the return of the record to the Superior Court after this Court vacated the conviction from Oliveira's first trial and the commencement of his retrial violated his right to a speedy trial. Second, he...
OPINION Justice INDEGLIA , for the Court. On July 19, 2013, a Providence County Superior Court jury found the defendant, Christopher Swiridowsky (defendant or Swiridowsky), guilty of three counts of first degree sexual assault in violation of G.L.1956 11-37-2 and 11-37-3, guilty of one count of assault with the intent to commit a sexual assault in violation of G.L.1956 11-5-1, and not guilty of one count of kidnapping under G.L.1956 11-26-1. On October 15, 2013, the trial justice...
OPINION Justice GOLDBERG , for the Court. This case came before the Supreme Court on October 1, 2015, pursuant to an order directing the parties to appear and show cause why the issues raised in this appeal should not be summarily decided. The plaintiff, Willie Battle (plaintiff), appeals from the trial justice's denial of his motion for a new trial, 1 following a jury verdict in favor of the defendant, the State of Rhode Island (state). After hearing the arguments of counsel and...
OPINION Justice ROBINSON for the Court. On April 5, 2012, a Providence County Superior Court jury found the defendant, Elizabeth Mendez, guilty of possession of more than five kilograms of marijuana in violation of G.L.1956 21-28-4.01.2(a)(5). 1 On May 24, 2012, the trial justice sentenced the defendant to twenty years imprisonment, with five years to serve and the remaining time suspended with probation. On appeal, defendant contends: (1) that the trial justice erred in his...
OPINION Chief Justice SUTTELL , for the Court. The defendant, Reynaldo Gomez, appeals from a Superior Court judgment of conviction after having been found guilty by a jury of second-degree sexual assault in violation of G.L. 1956 11-37-4(2). 1 On appeal, the defendant contends that the trial justice erred in: (1) denying his motion for judgment of acquittal; 2 (2) denying his motion for a new trial; and (3) allowing the complaining witness's statements to the police officer at the...
OPINION Chief Justice SUTTELL , for the Court. The defendant, Justin Prout, appeals from a judgment declaring him to be in violation of the terms of his probation and sentencing him to serve thirteen years of a previously imposed suspended sentence. This case came before the Supreme Court pursuant to an order directing the parties to appear and show cause why the issues raised in this appeal should not be summarily decided. After considering the parties' written and oral submissions and...
OPINION Justice GOLDBERG , for the Court. This case came before the Supreme Court on February 4, 2015, pursuant to an order directing the parties to appear and show cause why the issues raised in this appeal should not summarily be decided. The defendant, Raymond A. Peltier (defendant or Peltier), appeals from a judgment of conviction after a jury trial of one count of simple domestic assault. The trial justice subsequently denied the defendant's motion for a new trial and sentenced...
ORDER This case came before the Court on May 6, 2015, pursuant to an order directing the parties to appear and show cause why the issues raised in this appeal should not be summarily decided. The defendant, Muhammad Farooq (Farooq or defendant), who was convicted on one count each of first-degree sexual assault, felony assault, and second-degree sexual assault, appeals from the denial of his motion to reduce sentence in accordance with Rule 35 of the Supezrior Court Rules of Criminal Procedure....
OPINION Justice INDEGLIA , for the Court. The defendant, John Whiting, appeals from a judgment of conviction for felony larceny in violation of G.L. 1956 11-41-1 and 11-41-5 and criminal solicitation in violation of G.L.1956 11-1-9. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we affirm the judgment of conviction. I Facts and Travel The critical facts surrounding defendant's convictions are not in dispute in this appeal. We therefore proceed to trace only the series of events...
OPINION Justice INDEGLIA , for the Court. Robert Austin (Austin or defendant) appeals from a Superior Court judgment of conviction after a jury verdict finding him guilty of one count of second-degree sexual assault. On April 2, 2015, this case came before the Supreme Court for oral argument, sitting at Rhode Island College in the City of Providence, pursuant to an order directing the parties to appear and show cause why the issues raised in this appeal should not be decided without...
OPINION Chief Justice SUTTELL , for the Court. "And my more-having would be as a sauce To make me hunger more; that I should forge Quarrels unjust against the good and loyal, Destroying them for wealth." 1 The defendant, Judith Rosenbaum, appeals from a judgment of the Superior Court denying her request to reduce the amount of her monthly restitution obligation. The defendant was ordered to pay $95,000 in restitution to the victim of a crime, in monthly installments of $500; she now...
OPINION Justice FLAHERTY , for the Court. On November 20, 2006, the defendant, Deaven Tucker, along with two accomplices, Jason Ruiz (Ruiz) and Jennifer Duarte (Jennifer), robbed a bank on the East Side of Providence. However, that crime serves only as a precursor to other criminal activity that arose during the course of this sordid tale. In the days leading up to the robbery, the defendant had become increasingly distressed that an investigation into a crime that he had orchestrated...
ORDER This matter is before the Supreme Court from the plaintiff's appeal of a Superior Court order entered on March 7, 2014. The matter had originally been set for oral argument on April 8, 2015. In the interim, the matter was addressed at a session in conference pursuant to Article I, Rule 12A(3)(b) of the Supreme Court Rules of Appellate Procedure. For the reasons set forth below, we remand the matter to the Superior Court. The March 7, 2014 order which plaintiff has sought to appeal...
OPINION Justice GOLDBERG , for the Court. In this appeal, we review the denial of an application for postconviction relief. Gerald Lopes (Lopes or applicant) entered a plea of nolo contendere in two separate cases to the charges of burglary, breaking and entering, and receiving stolen goods. Lopes then applied for postconviction relief in the Superior Court, alleging myriad grounds for relief, including ineffective assistance of counsel that resulted in an unknowing and involuntary plea....
OPINION Justice INDEGLIA , for the Court. The plaintiff, the Narragansett Indian Tribe (Tribe), appeals from the entry of partial summary judgment in the Superior Court in favor of the defendant, the State of Rhode Island (state), and the intervenor defendant, UTGR, Inc. d/b/a Twin River (UTGR), finding that the 2011 Casino Act, G.L. 1956 chapter 61.2 of title 42 (Casino Act or the act) is not facially unconstitutional. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we affirm the judgment of...
OPINION Chief Justice SUTTELL , for the Court. The defendant, Ana M. Cruz, appeals from a Superior Court judgment of conviction, having been found guilty on two counts: (1) resisting arrest in violation of G.L.1956 12-7-10; and (2) disorderly conduct in violation of G.L.1956 11-45-1. On appeal, the defendant argues that her right to counsel, guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article 1, section 10 of the Rhode Island Constitution, was violated when...
