|
|
« Langevin announces national health-care plan | Today | Kennedy announces $6.9 million for VA hospital » February 11, 2008Judge to rule tomorrow on smoke-shop case dismissalPROVIDENCE — Superior Court Judge Susan E. McGuirl will rule tomorrow on whether to dismiss the cases against the seven Narragansett Indians charged in the 2003 state police raid on a tribal smoke shop. In hearing arguments this morning, McGuirl barraged Special Assistant Attorney General Pamela Chin with questions about why the state was late in turning over evidence to defense lawyers and in some case did not turn over information until being subpoenaed by the court. Defense lawyers have asked that the cases be dismissed because they say the state has been “grossly negligent” in complying with pre-trial discovery rules that require the state to turn over any evidence that could be used to exonerate a defendant. “I would submit it’s almost a cavalier attitude in the state’s response to discovery,” said William P. Devereaux, who represents six of the seven tribal members. He asked that if the court does not dismiss the cases, that it make the state pay court costs or impose not guilty filings for each of the defendants. Chin defended her actions, explaining she had asked state police to disclose relevant material and that she too was not aware of some of the hundreds of pages of documents turned over by state police in the past several weeks until they were subpoenaed. “In this case, it wasn’t an intentional nondisclosure,” Chin said.
Still, McGuirl, a former prosecutor herself, had strong words for the prosecution team. “There are things a prosecutor has to do,” McGuirl said. “You have a duty to do more than prosecute a case. You have a duty to do justice.” State police executed a search warrant the recently-opened smoke shop on tribal land in Charlestown, at the governor’s order, on July 14, 2003, to stop the tribe from selling tax-free cigarettes. The raid disintegrated into a scuffling match. Seven tribal members, including Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas, are awaiting trial for misdemeanor charges related to the raid. The trial is set to start Feb. 25, if it proceeds. Extra: Look back at the raid, including videos and photos, and its aftermath. Posted by Brandie Jefferson CommentsDan Leighton | February 11, 2008 4:43 PM link Post a commentPlease be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish. |
|
ADVERTISING |
|
|
|
|
| Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | |||||
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
ProJo 9 to 5 News Blog
Oct 2005 - March 2006
The state has spent enough taxpayer dollars on this case to boost a few egos. If the AG's office and the State Police can't get the job done right to prosecute the case following the rules, perhaps someone in either Dept. should be charged with obstruction of justice. A little accountability for what we as taxpayers are paying for. If charges against the Tribal members are dropped, one can only imagine that the traffic stops for them will increase by the state police.