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« Smoke-shop verdict: Findings against each defendant | Today | Smoke-shop verdict: Chief says: 'I did what I had to do' » April 4, 2008Smoke-shop verdict mixed; chief sachem guilty of assault
Two others were found guilty on a total of three counts. All others were acquitted of all charges against them. Jurors had mulled a total of 16 misdemeanor counts since deliberations began Tuesday afternoon in the high-profile case pitted the state and tribe against each other. Defendant Hiawatha Brown was found guilty of simple assault and disorderly conduct, but cleared of resisting arrest; while Randy Noka was found guilty of disorderly conduct, but cleared of resisting arrest. No date has been set for sentencing. Motions for a new trial will be heard April 28. Sighs of relief were heard in the packed courtroom when the jury returned three not-guilty verdicts against the first defendant, Bella Noka, on charges of disorderly conduct, obstruction and simple assault. But there was a different tone to the sighs when the jury announced that it had found the next defendant, Hiawatha Brown, guilty on two counts. After the verdict was read at 3:20 p.m., each juror was polled to affirm the four guilty counts. For some, emotion seeped into the procedural step. A woman juror cried as she was polled, saying. "Sorry," as she did so, wiping tears. A sheriff in the courtroom handed tissues to another juror. The verdicts came more than four years and eight months after a clash between Narragansetts and state police who raided the smoke shop on tribal land in Charlestown, on July 14, 2003, two days after the Narragansetts started selling tax-free cigarettes. During 16 days of testimony, jurors heard 25 witnesses on topics ranging from allegedly missing state police e-mails to the relevance of federal recognition of the tribe as a sovereign nation in 1983. They saw hours of videos plus photos -- some taken by news cameras and photographers at the scene -- showing police arrive at the Route 2 shop to execute a search warrant and the violent scuffle with tribal members that ensued. But before the defendants were brought to trial, the case went to court in other ways. -- projo.com staff writers Jack Perry and Michael McKinney and Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney It took more than three years for a federal court to rule that state police had the right to carry out the search and seizure warrant. And Governor Carcieri, who ordered the raid after objecting to the tax-free cigarette sales, successfully fought defense efforts in state Supreme Court to make him testify at trial. In closing arguments Monday, the defense contended that the raid's timing and manner were driven by money and intended to humiliate the tribe. The prosecution argued tribal members willfully violated state law and orchestrated the scene to embarrass the police in the media. On Tuesday morning, Superior Court Judge Susan E. McGuirl instructed the jury to decide based on the evidence and facts. She said race should not be a factor. And her instructions regarding resisting-arrest charges said that a defendant has a right to use reasonable force in an arrest in which an officer uses excessive force. The resulting verdicts for each defendant are listed below: * Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas, who has served on the tribal council since 1990 and was elected the tribe’s youngest chief sachem since Colonial times: - Not guilty: Disorderly conduct * Hiawatha Brown, who works as a stonemason and has served on the tribal council for much of the past three decades: - Guilty: Disorderly conduct * John Brown, the tribe’s medicine-man-in-training and historic preservation officer who's been on the tribal council for 25 years: - Not guilty: Disorderly conduct * Thawn Harris, a federally trained conservation officer for the tribe: - Not guilty: Resisting arrest * Adam Jennings, a dealer at Foxwoods Resort Casino in eastern Connecticut: * Randy Noka, tribal first councilman and a federally trained law enforcement officer who works at the Mohegan Sun casino in eastern Connecticut: - Guilty: Disorderly conduct * Bella Noka, Randy Noka’s wife, who was on the tribal council at the time of the raid: - Not guilty: Disorderly conduct Six tribal members were defended by lawyer William P. Devereaux, a former Rhode Island assistant attorney general who handled mob prosecutions and environmental cases and who has lobbied for casino interests, including the most recent backer of the Narragansett tribe’s gambling plans. Kevin J. Bristow, who began at the Brooklyn, N.Y., district attorney’s office prosecuting homicide cases and later worked as a Rhode Island state prosecutor, defended Harris, the tribal conservation officer. The state's prosecutors were Special Assistant Attorney General Pamela E. Chin, the lead prosecutor who joined the Attorney General’s Office in 1998 after working in private practice, and Special Assistant Attorney General Maria Ferro Deaton, who joined the attorney general’s office in 2006 after working as a Cape Cod prosecutor and in private practice in Yuma, Ariz. Posted by Mike McKinney Commentsrobert ferland | April 4, 2008 4:37 PM link After YEARS of abuse we owe the Indians for everything,,we offer them scraps of land,,this is THEIR country,,THEY have rights and we had no right to invade the tiny spaces we "LET" them have,,how dare we do this to them again,,Indians should have thrown us out and killed us all when they could since we contiually take away from them continualy humiliate them and constantly take away any and every GAIN they make in this country,,Now im part German Part french,,But im ALL FOR THE INDIAN!!! we owe them our very lives,,and yet here we are ungrateful and thinking we are all powerful ,,,how dare we Charlotte | April 4, 2008 5:19 PM link Recall Governor Carcieri he is a disgusting excuse for a human being. Wish the Governor would go | April 4, 2008 5:22 PM link Another sad day in RI history. As a tax payer, I am embarrassed so much money and time was spent on such a ridiculous issue! All I keep thinking about is the sad budget woes we are facing; the really tough questions that need to be addressed; and the fact the State of RI should realize it has bigger problems than this -we should all be embarrassed that our elected officials felt it was necessary to spend 5 years of expense to 'embarrass' people who were defending their land! Shame on the RI State Police and the rest of the bureacracy. Karen McLaughlin | April 4, 2008 6:35 PM link i saw the videos and pictures too. if those Indians were not fighting the troopers my eyes are going bad if that's not resisting I'd like to know what is. They were looking for trouble and got it. bob ingrson | April 5, 2008 8:31 AM link None of this would have happened if the State Police didn't instigate the fight. By the State Police going into the smoke shop they caused this whole mess. They tell us its because the Indians weren't charging taxes on cigarettes and that the state was loosing income. Okay, but now look what is happening. We're spending a fortune on trials, judges, lawyers, etc. Wouldn't it have been easier (and cheaper) just to let the Indians continue selling cigarettes? Kevin | April 5, 2008 12:19 PM link The whole problem in this case was the lack of leadership by Chief Thomas. There should have been no resistence what so ever. Whether he thought the state police had a right to be there or not leally or illegally....the recourse to any situation is in the courts if your rights are violated. Only by resisting do you yourself become a party to the problem and subject yourself to arrest. More importantly you get people hurt. Bert Chretien | April 13, 2008 8:30 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. |
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Oct 2005 - March 2006
Did anybody really win? Will there be a trial against the state police now? It's obvious that the feeling on the jury was that excessive force was used. (the judge stated you you resist if excessive force was used)