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Rhode Island Supreme Court Announces Indigent First-Time Applicant for Postconviction Relief Entitled to Counsel Even  When Not Requested; Superior Court Must Determine  Whether Applicant Intended to ...

Article • May 15, 2025 • from CLN June, 2025

Filed under: Appointment of Counsel, Counsel - Right to, Counsel - Constructive denial of

Rhode Island Supreme Court Announces Indigent First-Time Applicant for Postconviction Relief Entitled to Counsel Even When Not Requested; Superior Court Must Determine Whether Applicant Intended to Waive Right to Counsel and Whether Done Knowingly, Vol by Phillip Wasserman, J.D. The Supreme Court of Rhode Island quashed the orders of the …

Rhode Island Supreme Court: Officer Lacked Reasonable Suspicion for Terry Stop Based on Unsubstantiated, Anonymous Tip

Article • December 1, 2024 • from CLN December, 2024

Filed under: Scope of Permissible Searches, Suspicionless Searches

Rhode Island Supreme Court: Officer Lacked Reasonable Suspicion for Terry Stop Based on Unsubstantiated, Anonymous Tip by Sam Rutherford by Sam Rutherford The Supreme Court of Rhode Island held that a police officer lacked reasonable suspicion to conduct an investigative search where the initial detention was based on an unsubstantiated, …

Rhode Island Supreme Court Holds Temporal Requirement of ‘Recent Fabrication’ Exception to Hearsay Rule Not Satisfied and Scribbled Note Made by Child Victim of Sexual Abuse Years After Alleged Even...

Article • October 1, 2024 • from CLN October, 2024

Filed under: Sexual Abuse of a Minor, Sexual Abuse - Aggravated, Fabrication of Evidence, Sexual Abuse/Harrassment/Exploitation, Hearsay Evidence

Rhode Island Supreme Court Holds Temporal Requirement of ‘Recent Fabrication’ Exception to Hearsay Rule Not Satisfied and Scribbled Note Made by Child Victim of Sexual Abuse Years After Alleged Events Not ‘Excited Utterance’ by Matthew Clarke by Matthew Thomas Clarke The Supreme Court of Rhode Island held that an alleged …

First Circuit Reverses Denial of Habeas Relief Where District Court Found Batson Error but Observed AEDPA, Deferred to State Court’s Finding that No Batson Error Occurred

Article • December 15, 2022 • from CLN January, 2023

Filed under: Habeas Corpus, AEDPA, Batson Claims

First Circuit Reverses Denial of Habeas Relief Where District Court Found Batson Error but Observed AEDPA, Deferred to State Court’s Finding that No Batson Error Occurred by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed the U.S. District Court for the District of …

Liberty v. Rhode Island Department of Corrections, RI, Public Order Appointing Rule 706 Expert, Restrictive Housing, 2022

Brief • December 8, 2022

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Eighth Amendment, Shelter

Liberty v. Rhode Island Department of Corrections, RI, Public Order Appointing Rule 706 Expert, Restrictive Housing, 2022 Case 1:19-cv-00573-JJM-PAS Document 126 Filed 12/08/22 Page 1 of 4 PageID #: 2136 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND CHARLENE LIBERTY; JOHN DAPONTE; JOHN DAVIS; DUANE GOMES; ADAM HANRAHAN; …

Rhode Island Supreme Court: DUI Suspect Was in ‘Custody’ so Un-Mirandized Roadside Statements Properly Suppressed

Article • November 15, 2022 • from CLN December, 2022

Filed under: Motions To Suppress, In Custody

Rhode Island Supreme Court: DUI Suspect Was in ‘Custody’ so Un-Mirandized Roadside Statements Properly Suppressed by Mark Wilson by Mark Wilson The Supreme Court of Rhode Island upheld a lower court’s suppression of un-Mirandized statements made to police, finding that the defendant was in custody at the scene of an …

News in Brief

Article • October 15, 2022 • from CLN November, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Arkansas: A Mulberry police officer and two sheriff’s deputies from Crawford County were suspended after a video surfaced appearing to show them beating a man suspected of making violent threats. Maine Public Radio reported that the three officers were videoed by a bystander as they held …

Rhode Island Supreme Court: Conclusory Statutory Language to Describe Purported Child Porn Image Used to Support Search Warrant Affidavit Invalidates Warrant

Article • November 15, 2021 • from CLN December, 2021

Filed under: Pornography/Pornography Laws, Inadequacy of Warrant Affidavit

Rhode Island Supreme Court: Conclusory Statutory Language to Describe Purported Child Porn Image Used to Support Search Warrant Affidavit Invalidates Warrant by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso The Supreme Court of Rhode Island held that the search warrant used to search a defendant’s home was invalid because the officer’s …

Senior U.S. Marshal Accused of Plagiarism and Office Sex Fling

Article • October 26, 2021

Filed under: Police Misconduct

Senior U.S. Marshal Accused of Plagiarism and Office Sex Fling by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman   A high-ranking official with the U.S. Marshals Service (“USMS”) is on paid leave. At the same time, the agency investigates a pair of allegations lobbed against him: that he had sex with a …

Rhode Island BLM Calls for Arrest of White Providence Cops Who Spit on Black Teens

Article • August 23, 2021

Filed under: Assault by Police, Police Misconduct, Racial Profiling

Rhode Island BLM Calls for Arrest of White Providence Cops Who Spit on Black Teens by On August 19, 2021, the Rhode Island chapter of Black Lives Matter (BLM) called for the dismissal of two white Providence cops after the release of an arrest video that showed them punching and …

SCOTUS: Cady’s ‘Community Caretaking’ Function of Police Doesn’t Create Standalone Doctrine Permitting Warrantless Entry into a Home

Article • August 15, 2021 • from CLN September, 2021

Filed under: Warrantless Searches, Community Caretaking Exception/Doctrine

SCOTUS: Cady’s ‘Community Caretaking’ Function of Police Doesn’t Create Standalone Doctrine Permitting Warrantless Entry into a Home by Douglas Ankney by Doug Ankney A unanimous Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) held that the “community caretaking” function of police announced in Cady v. Dombrowski, 413 U.S. 433 (1973), which …

News in Brief

Article • July 15, 2021 • from CLN August, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by California: Two San Diego Police Department (SDPD) officers repeatedly punched a homeless Black man they were arresting on May 12, 2021, after they allegedly caught him attempting to urinate in public. According to a report by the Washington Post, the incident was captured on a cellphone …

News in Brief

Article • August 15, 2020 • from CLN September, 2020

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Arizona: Mariah Valenzuela has filed legal notices against the city of Phoenix and Maricopa County over Phoenix police officer Michael McGillis’ use of force during a January 16, 2020 traffic stop, abc15.com reports. The officer, driving a white van, stopped Valenzuela for allegedly veering across the …

Rhode Island Supreme Court Reverses Conviction Due to Prosecutor’s Remarks and Jury Consideration of Inadmissible Evidence

Article • March 18, 2020 • from CLN April, 2020

Filed under: Trials, Wrongful Conviction

Rhode Island Supreme Court Reverses Conviction Due to Prosecutor’s Remarks and Jury Consideration of Inadmissible Evidence by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Court of Rhode Island vacated the first-degree child molestation sexual assault conviction against Henry G. Bozzo due to a remark made by the prosecutor during closing …

RI DOC - Securus contract 2018-2021

Kickback publication • July 3, 2019

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates, Telephone Monitoring

RI DOC - Securus contract 2018-2021 STATE OF RHODE lSLAND ~DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS CONCESSION CONTRACT AGREEMENT This agreement, made and entered by and between the State of Rhode Island, Department bf Corrections (hereafter called "DOC"), and Securus Technologies, Inc. of 4000 International Parkway, Carrollton, TX 75007, hereinafter called 11 the …

RI DOC - Securus rates 2018-2021

Kickback publication • July 3, 2019

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

RI DOC - Securus rates 2018-2021 Contractor. The DOC understands and acknowledges that the Contractor, as a common carrier, is require by Section 222 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U;S.'C. Section 222, to maintain the confidentiality of "Customer Proprietary Network Information", or "CPNI", which protects from …

Rhode Island Supreme Court Takes on ‘Thorny Issues’ Presented by Sex Offender Registry Laws

Article • October 31, 2018 • from CLN November, 2018

Filed under: Sex Offender Registration, Sentencing

Rhode Island Supreme Court Takes on ‘Thorny Issues’ Presented by Sex Offender Registry Laws by Christopher Zoukis by Christopher Zoukis State legislatures across the nation seem unable to stop themselves from tinkering with and upgrading their sex offender registry laws. The Rhode Island Legislature is no exception, and continual changes …

Rhode Island High Court Abolishes Shatney in Initial Application for Postconviction Relief by Prisoners Serving Life Without Parole

Article • May 22, 2018 • from CLN June, 2018

Filed under: Sentencing, Parole

Rhode Island High Court Abolishes Shatney in Initial Application for Postconviction Relief by Prisoners Serving Life Without Parole by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On December 5, 2017, the Supreme Court of Rhode Island held that, “from this point forward, Shatney v. State, 755 A.2d 130 (R.I. 2000), shall be …

Rhode Island Supreme Court Rules “Backseat Driver” Is a Real Thing Under Criminal Statutes

Article • February 16, 2018 • from CLN March, 2018

Filed under: Criminal Prosecution, Criminal Procedure

Rhode Island Supreme Court Rules “Backseat Driver” Is a Real Thing Under Criminal Statutes by Christopher Zoukis by Christopher Zoukis The Rhode Island Supreme Court has determined that a passenger in the back seat of a vehicle who lunges forward and jerks the steering wheel qualifies as an “operator” of …

RI Contract with GTL

Kickback publication • October 24, 2017

RI Contract with GTL