Criminal

Where a defendant pled nolo in 2006 to a sexual offense,he would have to register as a sex offender under a 2008 amendment of RI statute.  The registration does not violate the R.I. Constitution's ex post facto clause, even though the statute was promulgated after the conviction, because the registration is not sufficiently "punitive" to be considered new punishment of which the defendant was not on notice.  The R.I. Superior Court so ruled, pursuant to State... Read More

An ex-employee of the Wyatt Detention Facility has pleaded guilty in
U.S. District Court in Providence to lying to federal investigators
about an improper sexual relationship with an immigrant detainee.
According to the Providence Journal article,
the Government has recommended a one-year sentence in home confinement
with an electronic monitoring bracelet on his ankle. Source: Providence
... Read More

The Providence Journal reports
that a RI woman involved in a tax fraud scheme was sentenced Monday in
R.I. Federal Court to time served, restitution and surrender to
deportation. The woman received several tax returns based on falsified
applications.... Read More

Under a new Westerly ordinance (which compounds Rhode Island's social
host law), the Westerly police charged 3 teenagers with underage
drinking and unlawful gathering. They were at a party with about 20
people present. The police came to the house following a complaint of
loud noise and were let in by one of the teens. The penalty is a fine.
Source: Providence Journal article.... Read More

The ProJo reported the sentencing on July 23, 2009 of the much-watched case of a
Barrington teenager, Ryan Greenberg, whose reckless boating resulted in
the death of his friend, also in the boat. During months, there was
much legal haggle over whether Greenberg should be tried before the
Family Court as a juvenile (as he was 17 when the incident... Read More

In an opinion issued July 8, 2009 captioned U.S. v. Bryant,
the First Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court "career
offender" determination because the lower court had relied on the
pre-sentence report without verifying through reliable sources and
documents (such as plea colloquy, certified copy of conviction) the
veracity and exact nature of out-of-state... Read More

An article in today's Providence Journal describes the first time use of GPS
tracking for convicted sex offenders in RI. The first man to be tracked
in such a way is categorized as "Level III" (or highest risk of
re-offending); every movement including when he moves out of his house
to smoke a cigarette is detected via the device.
Read More