Rhode Island Supreme Court Decisions 2012
Date: December 19, 2012
Docket Number: 11-26
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a civil action against Sportsman's Inn, Inc., a hotel and lounge, and DLM, Inc., the corporation that leased the premises to the hotel, alleging that he was shot as a result of the failure of Defendants…
Date: December 19, 2012
Docket Number: 11-280
Justia Opinion Summary: A general contractor (Carlisle) for a construction project contracted with Plaintiff to perform carpentry work for the project. A bond was issued for the project. Carlisle was the principal on the bond, and International…
Date: December 14, 2012
Docket Number: 2010-225
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of possession of cocaine with the intent to deliver and possession of cocaine in an amount between one ounce and one kilogram. In his appeal, Defendant challenged the denial of his motion to…
Date: December 14, 2012
Docket Number: 2010-341
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of three counts of first-degree child molestation and three counts of second-degree child molestation. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial justice's denial of his motion…
Date: December 13, 2012
Docket Number: 09-297
Justia Opinion Summary: After Shelley Tyre died, her parents brought a wrongful-death action against Shelley's husband, David Swain, alleging that he caused Shelley's wrongful death, that he was a slayer pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws 33-1.1-1(3),…
Date: December 12, 2012
Docket Number: 10-369
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs in this case included fifteen minor children and their parents who participated in the family court's truancy court diversion calendar program. The diversion program allowed family court magistrates to conduct…
Date: December 12, 2012
Docket Number: 11-255
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a divorce decree, Plaintiff was awarded sole custody of her and Defendant's daughter, as well as all personal property in her possession, with a few exceptions, including a pair of diamond earrings. Later,…
Date: December 12, 2012
Docket Number: 11-43
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of violating his probation. The superior court executed thirty months of Defendant's previously imposed suspended sentence. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court, holding…
Date: December 12, 2012
Docket Number: 2006-98
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. Nearly a decade later, Defendant filed a pro se application for postconviction relief, claiming six allegations of error. The…
Date: December 10, 2012
Docket Number: 11-194
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of one count of first degree child molestation and two counts of second degree of child molestation. Defendant was the great-uncle of the complaining witness. On appeal, Defendant argued that the…
Date: December 10, 2012
Docket Number: 11-77
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of aiding and abetting murder and conspiracy to commit robbery. The Supreme Court affirmed on direct appeal. Defendant subsequently filed an application for postconviction relief, setting forth…
Date: December 7, 2012
Docket Number: 2011-276
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff sent a notice of claim to Defendants, a town and its finance director, for injuries she sustained on the town's sidewalk. Defendants filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the complaint should be…
Date: December 6, 2012
Docket Number: 11-81
Justia Opinion Summary: Two enforcement officers of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) boarded a boat owned by Daniel Barlow when Barlow was not on board and allegedly discovered the amount of summer flounder Barlow…
Date: December 6, 2012
Docket Number: 2011-379
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, who was employed as a school bus driver, broadcasted that the bus she was driving, which was full of elementary-school children, had been struck by gunfire and that panic had spread among the children.…
Date: December 5, 2012
Docket Number: 2010-215
Justia Opinion Summary: Bowen's Wharf was a tourist destination including a marina and a variety of retailers, restaurants, and art galleries. In this appeal, the Supreme Court was called upon to decide a question that would clarify the rights…
Date: December 3, 2012
Docket Number: 2011-157
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed from a superior court judgment of conviction declaring him to be in violation of his probation and executing four years of his previously imposed suspended sentence. On appeal, Defendant argued there…
Date: November 27, 2012
Docket Number: 11-243
Justia Opinion Summary: An automobile registered to Defendant struck a parked car that was registered to Plaintiff. Plaintiff subsequently filed a complaint against Defendant seeking damages pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws 31-33-6 and 31-33-7.…
Date: November 16, 2012
Docket Number: 09-147
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder, assault with intent to murder, and assault with a dangerous weapon. Appellant subsequently filed an application for postconviction relief, which the superior court denied.…
Date: November 14, 2012
Docket Number: 2011-70
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed from a judgment of conviction on two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence. Defendant argued on appeal that the trial…
Date: November 8, 2012
Docket Number: 2011-164
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of burglary, robbery in the first degree, and assault on a person over the age of sixty. The complainant, who was seventy-one years old at the time of trial, had suffered a…
Date: November 8, 2012
Docket Number: 2011-69
Justia Opinion Summary: Under the terms of a collective-bargaining agreement, the City of Newport provided health insurance benefits to its retired firefighters. After the City decided to modify those benefits, Local 1080, International…
Date: November 2, 2012
Docket Number: 2011-159
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed from a superior court judgment of conviction for first-degree murder and three related crimes. On appeal, Defendant argued that the trial justice erred in denying his pretrial motions to suppress…
Date: October 25, 2012
Docket Number: 11-254
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed from a conviction of two felony counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence. On appeal, Defendant argued (1) his statement to…
Date: October 25, 2012
Docket Number: 11-342
Justia Opinion Summary: The family court terminated the parental rights of Father and Mother (collectively, Respondents) to their daughter, Amiah P., after finding that both parents presented troubling histories involving imprisonment and…
Date: October 17, 2012
Docket Number: 2011-21
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs brought suit against Defendant, the Cranston School Department, seeking grievance arbitration of adverse actions taken against them as to their respective coaching positions at Cranston West High School.…
Date: July 13, 2012
Docket Number: 09-168
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Mutual Development Corporation appealed a Superior Court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants Ward Fisher & Company, LLP (Ward Fisher) and WF Realty & Investment, LLC (WF Realty). On appeal,…
Date: July 13, 2012
Docket Number: 09-31
Justia Opinion Summary: After a consolidated trial, a Providence County Superior Court jury found Defendant John Kluth guilty of thirty counts of obtaining money by false pretenses. Thereafter, the trial justice sentenced Defendant to a total…
Date: July 12, 2012
Docket Number: 10-216
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant James S. Richardson appealed his conviction by jury of first degree murder and burglary charges for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. On appeal, Defendant argued…
Date: July 12, 2012
Docket Number: 10-236
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Juan Diaz appealed his conviction on second-degree murder and one count of using a firearm while committing a crime of violence. On appeal, Defendant argued that the trial justice erred in failing to grant his…
Date: July 12, 2012
Docket Number: 10-429
Justia Opinion Summary: Applicant Eddy Guerrero appealed the denial of his application for postconviction relief. His sole contention on appeal was that the hearing justice erred in holding that his trial counsel provided effective assistance…
Date: July 12, 2012
Docket Number: 10-61
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Julie Robat appealed her conviction on one count of second-degree murder. The victim was Defendant's newborn daughter. On appeal, Defendant contended that the trial justice erred in failing to grant her motion…
Date: July 11, 2012
Docket Number: 11-295
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Sofya Zharkopva appealed a family court judgment that dismissed her complaint against Defendant Paul Gaudreau. In her complaint, Plaintiff alleged she and Defendant were in a common-law marriage. At trial,…
Date: July 6, 2012
Docket Number: 09-249
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, Kenneth Viveiros appealed his conviction on four counts of simple assault against three inmates at the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI), occurring while the defendant was employed as a lieutenant at the…
Date: July 6, 2012
Docket Number: 10-231
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Brown University appealed a Superior Court judgment in favor of Plaintiff Beverly Haviland in her action for declaratory relief. The issue arose over placement of Haviland in a tenured teaching position as a…
Date: July 6, 2012
Docket Number: 10-266
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court in this petition was whether G.L. 1956 section 5-6-2 permits only licensed electricians to install underground hollow polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material that is devoid of any electrical…
Date: July 6, 2012
Docket Number: 10-363
Justia Opinion Summary: At the end of a trial held in Kent County Superior Court, a jury found the defendant, James Cook guilty of twenty-two counts ranging from first-degree sexual assault to identity fraud. On appeal, defendant contended that…
Date: July 6, 2012
Docket Number: 10-386
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Roderick McGarry appealed a final judgment in favor of Defendant Town of Cumberland School Department which granted defendant's motion for judgment as a matter of law. The trial justice concluded that plaintiff…
Date: July 6, 2012
Docket Number: 11-316
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Laurel Y. Hazard appealed the grant of a motion for summary judgment in favor of the defendant, East Hills, Inc., declaring that the plaintiff was barred by the doctrine of laches from prosecuting a claim of…
Date: July 5, 2012
Docket Number: 09-379
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Raymond McWilliams was found guilty on one count of first-degree robbery and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon. In light of his "impressive" criminal history, the trial justice sentenced him to life…
Date: July 5, 2012
Docket Number: 10-253
Justia Opinion Summary: In early 2008, over the course of a lengthy jury trial, the state presented approximately thirty witnesses, including known criminals, against Defendant Michael Ciresi who was once a decorated North Providence police…
Date: July 5, 2012
Docket Number: 10-264
Justia Opinion Summary: Pro se Defendant Mary Y. Seguin challenged a Superior Court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the Plaintiff Jessup & Conroy, P.C. (the law firm), on her counterclaim in this collection action. In late 2001, Seguin…
Date: July 5, 2012
Docket Number: 10-269
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court in this case was the Plaintiff Allen Drescher's appeal of a Superior Court judgment declaring that he failed to establish an easement by prescription over a right-of-way owned by…
Date: July 5, 2012
Docket Number: 10-87
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs Joseph and Josephine Iozzi owned a home located in Cranston. On October 15, 2005, excessive rainfall overwhelmed the sewer system servicing the Iozzis's home, causing water and sewage to back up and enter…
Date: July 5, 2012
Docket Number: 11-140
Justia Opinion Summary: The facts of this case were "clear and undisputed; in point of fact, they are a textbook example of a mechanic's-lien dispute." Plaintiff, GSM Industrial, Inc., was a subcontractor that entered into an agreement with…
Date: July 5, 2012
Docket Number: 11-148
Justia Opinion Summary: The controversy at the center of this case arose from a newspaper article written by Defendant Katherine Gregg that sparked an "acrimonious and childish on-air rant" by Defendant Dan Yorke, a well-known radio talk show…
Date: July 5, 2012
Docket Number: 11-171
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, the State of Rhode Island Tax Administrator, filed this collection action against Defendants William J. and Marielle Reilly, in pursuit of more than $1 million in assessed-but-unpaid personal income taxes. In…
Date: July 2, 2012
Docket Number: 09-307
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff John J. Tworog appealed two Family Court orders pertaining to his divorce proceedings with Defendant Dolores M. Tworog. John first appealed an order denying his motion to reopen the final judgment of divorce,…
Date: June 29, 2012
Docket Number: 10-372
Justia Opinion Summary: The dispute at the center of this case arose from a business relationship that "rapidly turned sour." Plaintiffs Charles and Marguerite Takian and Defendants Ralph and Lucia Rafaelian together purchased property in South…
Date: June 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-145
Justia Opinion Summary: The Cumberland Teachers Association (union), appealed to the Supreme Court that confirmed an arbitrator's award in favor of the Cumberland School Committee (school committee). After protracted contract negotiations, the…
Date: June 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-195
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Estate of Aram Dermanouelian (the Estate) appealed a superior court judgment which granted a "Motion for Summary Reversal" filed by Appellee Co-Executor Jo-Ann Dermanouelian. The effect of the Superior Court’s…
Date: June 28, 2012
Docket Number: 11-87
Justia Opinion Summary: Applicant David Higham appealed a superior court judgment that denied his second application for postconviction relief. In 2000, a jury found that Applicant committed two acts of first-degree child molestation against…
Date: June 27, 2012
Docket Number: 10-203
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs Philip and Eileen Pelletier challenged a Superior Court judgment in favor of their neighbor Aphrodite Laureanno which dismissed their complaint for injunctive relief and monetary damages. The Pelletiers…
Date: June 27, 2012
Docket Number: 10-218
Justia Opinion Summary: Applicant Randy Anderson appealed a Superior Court judgment that dismissed his application for post-conviction relief. On appeal, Applicant contended that the hearing justice erred by (1) deeming his claim of…
Date: June 27, 2012
Docket Number: 11-120
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court was a dispute over the existence of an alleged prescriptive easement that was necessary for large commercial vehicles to get to the loading dock of a commercial building. The…
Date: June 26, 2012
Docket Number: 10-315
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal arose from a wrongful death action. Plaintiffs alleged medical negligence. The civil suit and eventual trial took place in the wake of the death of Peter Almonte, who in 2000, killed himself approximately…
Date: June 22, 2012
Docket Number: 09-280
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Hamlet M. Lopez appealed a Superior Court judgment of conviction for first-degree murder, for which he received a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. On appeal, Defendant argued…
Date: June 22, 2012
Docket Number: 09-83
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Jeffrey Alston (alias John Doe) appealed his conviction for conspiracy to break and enter, breaking and entering of a dwelling, and assault with a dangerous weapon. He also appealed the denial of his motions…
Date: June 22, 2012
Docket Number: 10-375
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court in this case concerned the applicability of an assault and/or battery exclusion in a commercial general liability insurance policy. Great American E&S Insurance Company filed a…
Date: June 22, 2012
Docket Number: 10-388
Justia Opinion Summary: On October 31, 2004, three-year-old Thomas J. Wright died as a result of extensive injuries that tragically had been inflicted upon him by his aunt and her boyfriend after they returned home from a night of drinking.…
Date: June 22, 2012
Docket Number: 11-181
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Michael A. Langlois appealed a Superior Court's declaratory judgment entered in favor of Plaintiff Townhouses at Bonnet Shores Condominium Association. The judgment decreed that a lease agreement that Defendant…
Date: June 22, 2012
Docket Number: 11-63
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether the decedent Robert Daniel George, who was struck and killed by an uninsured motorist in 2006, qualified as an insured under an insurance policy provided by…
Date: June 21, 2012
Docket Number: 10-49
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue before the Supreme Court concerned the extent of uninsured motorist coverage provided under an automobile insurance policy issued to a husband and wife who were both injured by an uninsured motorist while…
Date: June 20, 2012
Docket Number: 11-116
Justia Opinion Summary: The parties to this appeal were former spouses, and the issue before the Supreme Court involved the marital settlement agreement they entered into in connection with their divorce. The dispute centered around the…
Date: June 19, 2012
Docket Number: 10-233
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, Beth DePrete, appealed from an order of the family court reflecting the court's denial of her motion seeking leave of court to relocate the parties' two minor children from Rhode Island to Texas and seeking…
Date: June 18, 2012
Docket Number: 10-261
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was a 1966 property division that created Lot 733, an undeveloped parcel owned by Plaintiffs. When Plaintiffs requested a zoning certificate from the zoning enforcement officer for the town, the…
Date: June 14, 2012
Docket Number: 09-193
Justia Opinion Summary: On August 27, 2007, an eighty-seven-year-old woman's purse was stolen in a supermarket parking lot. As a result, Defendant Nelson Rolon was charged with and ultimately convicted of first-degree robbery. Rolon appealed,…
Date: June 14, 2012
Docket Number: 10-14
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an African-American male of Nigerian origin, was hired by Atlantek, Inc. Zebra Technologies later acquired Atlantek. Three years later, Plaintiff was laid off. Plaintiff signed a release document and submitted…
Date: June 14, 2012
Docket Number: 10-385
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Daniela Turacova and Ronald DeThomas (DeThomas) formed a limited liability company known as TAMA. After DeThomas passed away, a dispute arose regarding the buyout of his interest in TAMA. Because Plaintiff and…
Date: June 13, 2012
Docket Number: 09-202
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Milton Pelosi appealed from two orders of the family court, an order denying Defendant's motion to vacate the entry of the interlocutory judgment and the final judgment of divorce and the order granting…
Date: June 13, 2012
Docket Number: 11-186
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Cheryl Sola appealed from a superior court decision dismissing her defamation claim as time-barred and granting summary judgment in favor of Defendants, the City of Newport and Detective Michael Caruolo,…
Date: June 12, 2012
Docket Number: 10-15
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Nicola Tarzia was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine. After Tarzia successfully completed a diversion program, the State dismissed the charge. Tarzia later filed a motion to expunge the charge,…
Date: June 11, 2012
Docket Number: 11-172
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Thomas DePetrillo filed suit against Belo Holdings, Inc. and Citadel Broadcasting Company, challenging the validity of Citadel's right of first refusal to purchase a broadcasting tower and surrounding real…
Date: June 11, 2012
Docket Number: 11-24
Justia Opinion Summary: The underlying action in this case concerned real property located in the City of Warwick that Defendant, Felix Carlone, dedicated to the City in 1979. Plaintiffs, Warwick Sewer Authority (WSA) and the City, brought a…
Date: June 7, 2012
Docket Number: 11-244
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, Defendant's employee, was traveling as a passenger in a pickup truck owned and operated by Defendant when the truck collided with another vehicle, resulting in injuries to Plaintiff. Plaintiff sued Defendant…
Date: June 6, 2012
Docket Number: 10-169
Justia Opinion Summary: A justice of the superior court found Defendant guilty of having violated section 16-93 of the Providence Code of Ordinances for allowing the emanation of loud music from his vehicle. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding…
Date: June 5, 2012
Docket Number: 11-111
Justia Opinion Summary: Dennis Gallagher was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, an occupational disease, and ultimately succumbed to the disease. A trial judge of the workers' compensation court entered decrees holding USGEN New England,…
Date: June 4, 2012
Docket Number: 10-436
Justia Opinion Summary: Declarant Bowen Court Associates created a condominium by declaration in 1989. Declarant retained a ten-year reservation to withdraw a portion of the land from the condominium. In 1992 the owner of the property…
Date: June 4, 2012
Docket Number: 11-46
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant Emmanuel Barbosa was found guilty of felony assault, carrying a pistol without a license, and possession of a firearm after previous conviction of a crime of violence. The Supreme Court…
Date: May 30, 2012
Docket Number: 11-217
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Jeffrey Murray was charged by criminal information with a felony pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws 12-29-5 for violating a no-contact order. Defendant pleaded nolo contendere to the charges and was sentenced under the…
Date: May 22, 2012
Docket Number: 09-215
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Robert Watson, together with nine Republican colleagues from the Rhode Island House of Representatives, sought a declaration that the process the General Assembly used to allocate $2.3 million in state money…
Date: May 21, 2012
Docket Number: 10-333
Justia Opinion Summary: Gary Tassone was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Tassone subsequently filed an application for postconviction relief, alleging that his constitutional rights had…
Date: May 17, 2012
Docket Number: 10-408
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Shurron Washington sought review of an adjudication of a probation violation after a hearing. At the conclusion of the hearing, the hearing justice found that Defendant had violated the terms and conditions of…
Date: May 17, 2012
Docket Number: 11-94
Justia Opinion Summary: This negligence and breach of contract action arose out of Plaintiff's fall in one of Defendant's stores. Plaintiff Maureen Habershaw appealed from the superior court's grant of a motion for summary judgment in favor of…
Date: May 14, 2012
Docket Number: 09-28
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Esteban Carpio was convicted of first-degree murder of a police officer, discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence, and felony assault with a dangerous weapon. The superior court sentenced…
Date: May 10, 2012
Docket Number: 09-376
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was whether the driver of a motor vehicle, who is an adult but underage drinker, has a duty to protect third parties from the tortious conduct of an intoxicated individual he or she has agreed to…
Date: May 10, 2012
Docket Number: 10-102
Justia Opinion Summary: Following a jury trial, Defendant Kayborn Brown was convicted of first-degree robbery and sentenced to forty years' incarceration. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of conviction, holding that the trial justice (1)…
Date: May 7, 2012
Docket Number: 10-7
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury found Applicant Rudy Sifuentes guilty of first-degree murder in a manner involving torture and aggravated battery, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Applicant subsequently filed a pro se application…
Date: May 7, 2012
Docket Number: 11-33
Justia Opinion Summary: This insurance-coverage dispute arose after a driver of a leased vehicle struck and seriously injured a pedestrian. The vehicle, a BMW, was owned by BMW Financial Services. The pedestrian and her family sued the driver…
Date: May 7, 2012
Docket Number: 11-73
Justia Opinion Summary: Kevin Lyons was convicted of two counts of first-degree child molestation. The Supreme Court affirmed. Lyons subsequently filed an application for postconviction relief, arguing that he had been prejudiced by ineffective…
Date: May 4, 2012
Docket Number: 11-90
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Gary Gromkiewicz entered a plea of nolo contendere to one count of first-degree robbery and was sentenced to twenty years incarceration, thirteen years suspended with probation. The superior court subsequently…
Date: April 27, 2012
Docket Number: 09-358
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal concerned the 2003 fire that occurred at the Station nightclub, wherein one hundred people died. The nightclub was co-owned by Plaintiffs, Michael and Jeffrey Derderian. A grand jury returned separate…
Date: April 17, 2012
Docket Number: 10-171
Justia Opinion Summary: Several years after Decedent died and his will was probated, Plaintiffs, Decedent's three children, filed a verified complaint against Defendants, two of the trustees named by Decedent to manage and control Decedent's…
Date: April 17, 2012
Docket Number: 10-176
Justia Opinion Summary: The City of Cranston, by and through its tax assessor, valued Plaintiff Narragansett Electric Company's tangible personal property located within that municipality at $23,290,814. Plaintiff appealed the tax assessment.…
Date: April 17, 2012
Docket Number: 10-267
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Brian Krivitsky appealed pro se from two family court orders authorizing a commissioner to sell Defendant's real property to satisfy the child-support arrearage he owed to Plaintiff, Jo-An Krivitsky. The…
Date: April 17, 2012
Docket Number: 10-343
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this appeal was whether the terms of an agreement between the plaintiff, AVCORR Management, and the defendant, Central Falls Detention Facility, required the Facility to arbitrate certain disputed fees.…
Date: April 17, 2012
Docket Number: 10-428
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose out of a dispute over real property in the City of Newport. Plaintiffs, four individuals, filed an action to clear title to a portion of the Washington Street Extension. The trial court entered judgment…
Date: April 16, 2012
Docket Number: 10-263
Justia Opinion Summary: A young boy died after he trespassed onto plaintiff Corporation's property and played on industrial equipment. A settlement was eventually reached with the decedent's estate. Corporation thereafter filed suit against its…
Date: April 13, 2012
Docket Number: 10-205
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Wesley Spratt was found guilty of murder while committing or attempting to commit robbery, first-degree robbery, carrying a pistol without a license, and committing a crime of violence while armed…
Date: April 12, 2012
Docket Number: 11-16
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a diesel mechanic, brought suit against Defendant, his former employer, for damages to his tools that allegedly occurred after Defendant fired him. The superior court entered judgment in favor of Plaintiff for…
Date: April 11, 2012
Docket Number: 10-211
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this appeal was whether a family court justice erred in finding that loans taken out by Defendant JoAnne Palin to pay for the the college educations of her and Plaintiff Steven Palin's children were not…
Date: April 11, 2012
Docket Number: 10-244
Justia Opinion Summary: When Plaintiffs' efforts to act as general contractors on a new home foundered because of faulty work performed by a framing subcontractor, they made a claim on the homeowner's insurance policy issued to them by…
Date: April 10, 2012
Docket Number: 09-312
Justia Opinion Summary: In two civil actions, Plaintiffs in the underlying action alleged that Cheaters, Inc. and Cheaters Holding Corporation negligently and/or recklessly served alcoholic beverages to William Powers, who afterwards drove a…
Date: April 10, 2012
Docket Number: 10-334
Justia Opinion Summary: After a probation violation hearing, Defendant Santo Jensen was found to have violated the terms and conditions of his probation for allegedly sexually assaulting a six-year-old. Jensen was sentenced to serve the…
Date: April 10, 2012
Docket Number: 11-20
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an irrevocable trust, filed a complaint against Defendant, a university graduate student, alleging that he breached his lease agreement by painting over expensive historical wallpaper inside Plaintiff's…
Date: April 5, 2012
Docket Number: 10-161
Justia Opinion Summary: The Town of North Providence hired Everett McCain and appointed him as a lineman in the communications division of the fire department. McCain subsequently sustained injuries during the performance of his duties.…
Date: April 4, 2012
Docket Number: 10-162
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff James Casale was employed by Defendant City of Cranston when he was injured. During his incapacity, Plaintiff received injured-on-duty (IOD) benefits from the City. In accordance with its policy with Plaintiff,…
Date: March 30, 2012
Docket Number: 10-270
Justia Opinion Summary: Applicant Jerry Steele entered a plea of nolo contedere to assault with a dangerous weapon. Applicant subsequently filed a pro se motion for postconviction relief, alleging, inter alia, that he was forced against his…
Date: March 29, 2012
Docket Number: 10-271
Justia Opinion Summary: Trustee sought an order allowing him to remove the life tenant (Defendant) from property owned by the trust. The probate court issued an order in conformity with Trustee's petition after Defendant was defaulted for…
Date: March 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-12
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Yoneiry Delarosa appealed from a superior court judgment adjudicating him a violator of probation. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court, holding that the hearing justice did not err (1)…
Date: March 27, 2012
Docket Number: 10-367
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Christopher Smith was found guilty of first-degree child molestation sexual assault and second-degree child molestation sexual assault arising from a series of assaults upon a thirteen-year-old girl. The…
Date: March 26, 2012
Docket Number: 2011-40
Justia Opinion Summary: The family court terminated Father's parental rights to his daughter, Gabrielle D., after Gabrielle had been placed with the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) for at least twelve months. Father appealed.…
Date: March 22, 2012
Docket Number: 09-102
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Isabel Traveras was convicted of possession of an enumerated quantity of cocaine, for which she received a ten-year suspended sentence, with probation. On appeal, Defendant challenged the denial of her motion…
Date: March 14, 2012
Docket Number: 10-151
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Robert Payette was convicted of first-degree murder, for which he received a sentence of life imprisonment. Payette appealed, contending that the trial justice erred (1) by instructing the jury that malice may…
Date: March 13, 2012
Docket Number: 10-145
Justia Opinion Summary: Because Property Owner failed to pay real estate taxes on his property, the Town held a tax sale of Property Owner's property. Buyer purchased the property after Property Owner defaulted on the action. The superior court…
Date: March 9, 2012
Docket Number: 10-209
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Allen Wray was convicted by a jury of two counts of first-degree robbery after robbing two women at gunpoint. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial justice erred in (1) denying Defendant's motion for a new…
Date: March 9, 2012
Docket Number: 10-97
Justia Opinion Summary: After failing two field sobriety tests, Respondent Lewis Quattrucci was arrested for DUI and later charged with refusing to submit to a chemical test. The charge was subsequently dismissed by a traffic tribunal…
Date: March 7, 2012
Docket Number: 09-380
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury found Defendant Jose Vieira guilty on five counts of second-degree child molestation. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of conviction, holding (1) the trial justice did not err when she denied Defendant's…
Date: March 6, 2012
Docket Number: 09-344
Justia Opinion Summary: Following a jury trial, Kenneth Rice was convicted of first-degree child molestation sexual assault, second-degree child molestation sexual assault, and solicitation with the intent to commit a felony. The Supreme Court…
Date: March 6, 2012
Docket Number: 10-121
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant Kimberly St. Michel was convicted for embezzlement of funds in excess of $100 and sentenced to fifteen years' imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of conviction, holding…
Date: March 5, 2012
Docket Number: 2010-73
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Yi Gu was struck by Edmund Hathaway, a driver for the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA), while crossing an intersection. Plaintiff brought suit against RIPTA and Hathaway (collectively, Defendants),…
Date: February 20, 2012
Docket Number: 09-292
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant David Dubois was convicted of five counts of second-degree child molestation. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial justice (1) properly weighed the potential impact of potentially inflammatory…
Date: February 13, 2012
Docket Number: 10-96
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant John Lomba was charged with three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of simple assault. After a jury trial, Defendant was acquitted of the three felony counts but convicted of simple…
Date: February 9, 2012
Docket Number: 11-101
Justia Opinion Summary: The Town of Little Compton filed a complaint against the town firefighters union, contending that the union, or its representative, had engaged in the unauthorized practice of law when the union allowed its nonlawyer…
Date: January 30, 2012
Docket Number: 10-328
Justia Opinion Summary: Former spouses disputed the property settlement agreement that was entered into in connection with their divorce. The dispute centered around a minority interest in Prime Time Manufacturing, Inc. The agreement specified…
Date: January 24, 2012
Docket Number: 09-110
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Heriberto Rosario was convicted of two counts of first-degree child molestation. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial justice erred in failing to grant his motion for a new trial because the evidence was…
Date: January 23, 2012
Docket Number: 10-142
Justia Opinion Summary: National Grid filed an application with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in which it sought additional revenues for its electricity distribution operations in Rhode Island, requesting an increase in electric…
Date: January 18, 2012
Docket Number: 10-260
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff brought a patient to the hospital while working as an EMT/firefighter for the city. After he had delivered his patient but while he was still at the hospital, a nurse asked Plaintiff to assist her with a…
Date: January 17, 2012
Docket Number: 09-343
Justia Opinion Summary: George Bouffard pled nolo contendere to breaking and entering associated for an incident occurring in 2000 and was adjudged a violator of his suspended and probationary sentences associated with two earlier cases, in…
Date: January 12, 2012
Docket Number: 09-175
Justia Opinion Summary: Following a jury trial, Defendant Gilbert Delestre was found guilty of second-degree murder and of conspiracy to commit the offense of murder. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court, holding that…
Date: January 12, 2012
Docket Number: 10-374
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a professional limousine driver, was injured when he was struck by a car while unloading luggage from a limousine at an airport. Plaintiff reached settlements with his employer's insurance company and the…
Date: January 9, 2012
Docket Number: 09-118
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Louis Giuliano, Jr. contested the will of Testator, Louis Guiliano, Sr. The jury found the will was properly executed, and the superior court entered judgment in favor of Plaintiff, the executrix and the…
Date: January 9, 2012
Docket Number: 10-66
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff and Defendant executed an agreement in which Plaintiff agreed to purchase from Defendant an unimproved parcel of real property. The agreement included a due diligence clause, which provided Plaintiff with a…
Date: January 5, 2012
Docket Number: 10-425
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Giulio Lancellotta pled nolo contendere to second-degree robbery and was sentenced to twelve years in prison, which sentence was suspended, and twelve years probation. A magistrate later found that Defendant…
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