Justia Civil Rights Opinion Summaries

Articles Posted in Rhode Island Supreme Court
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The Supreme Court vacated the orders of the superior court granting Defendants' motions to suppress evidence of approximately ninety-four pounds of marijuana seized from one defendant's vehicle during a traffic stop, holding that the trial justice erred in granting Defendants' motions to suppress.Junjie Li was operating a vehicle and Zhong Kuang was in the passenger seat when a law enforcement officer initiated a traffic stop. While conversing with Li, the officer noticed Li began to exhibit nervous behavior and detected an order of marijuana coming from inside Kuang's vehicle. After a dog sniff, officers discovered marijuana. Li and Kuang moved, individually to suppress the marijuana. The trial justice granted the motions to suppress, holding that the extension of the traffic stop beyond its original scope was unreasonable because the officer did not have independent reasonable suspicion to prolong the stop. The Supreme Court vacated the superior court's orders, holding that the trial justice erred in concluding that the officer did not possess reasonable suspicion to prolong the stop based on the totality of the circumstances. View "State v. Li" on Justia Law

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The Supreme Court affirmed the orders of the superior court granting motions to suppress filed by Defendants Jerome Joseph and Voguel Figaro, holding that the hearing justice did not err in granting Defendants' suppression motions.Figaro moved to suppress physical evidence seized as the result of a motor vehicle stop, arguing that the officer unconstitutionally prolonged the stop to perform a dog sniff. Joseph also filed a motion to suppress and joined the memorandum supporting Figaro's suppression motion. The hearing justice granted the motions to suppress, holding that reasonable suspicion did not support the prolonged traffic stop of Figaro's vehicle. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the hearing justice properly found that the state police lacked reasonable suspicion to detain Defendants. View "State v. Joseph" on Justia Law

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The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court convicting Defendant of three counts of first-degree sexual assault, following a jury trial, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on his allegations of error.Specifically, the Supreme eCourt held that the trial justice (1) did not violate Defendant's constitutional right to present a defense by excluding the proposed expert testimony of Dr. Patricia R. Recupero as not relevant under Rule 401 of the Rhode Island Rules of Evidence; (2) did not err in instructing the jury that there was no need for certain testimony to be corroborated in order to support a guilty verdict; and (3) did not abuse his discretion in limiting the redirect examination of Defendant about his preparation for trial. View "State v. Robinson" on Justia Law

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The Supreme Court affirmed the judgments of the superior court convicting Defendant following a jury trial for larceny of an automobile and adjudicating him a probation violator, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on his claims of error.On appeal, Defendant argued, among other things, that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress certain evidence collected as a result of a warrantless search of his real-time cell-site location information (CSLI). The Supreme Court disagreed and affirmed, holding (1) the acquisition of real-time CSLI qualifies as a search under the Fourth Amendment for which a warrant is required; (2) any error in the trial justice's determination that the exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement applied to the facts of this case was harmless; (3) the trial justice did not abuse his discretion in denying Defendant's motion to exclude certain testimony, and any error in allowing other testimony to be admitted at trial was harmless; and (4) Defendant waived his last argument for appeal. View "State v. Sinapi" on Justia Law

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The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court in granting summary judgment in favor of Defendants, Rhode Island College and related individuals, on the grounds of qualified immunity, holding that Plaintiff was not entitled to relief on his claims of error.Plaintiff brought this action seeking equitable relief and damages under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and 1988 on the grounds that Defendants' conduct toward him during his Master of Social Work program violated his First and Fourteenth Rights. The superior court concluded that Defendants were entitled to qualified immunity and granted summary judgment in favor of Defendants. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Plaintiff's arguments on appeal were unavailing. View "Felkner v. R.I. College" on Justia Law

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The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court deciding to grant Defendant's request to represent himself and denying his motion for a new trial, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on his allegations of error.On appeal, Defendant argued that his waiver of his right to the assistance of counsel was not valid and that the trial justice erred when she denied his motion for a new trial. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding (1) there was no error in the trial justice's decision allowing Defendant to discharge his attorney when and as he did; and (2) the record established that Defendant made a voluntary, knowing, and intelligent waiver of his right to the assistance of counsel; and (3) the trial justice did not err in denying Defendant's motion for a new trial. View "State v. Delossantos" on Justia Law

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The Supreme Court vacated the order of the superior court granting Defendant's motion to suppress two statements to Warwick police detectives in the course of their investigation, holding that the superior court abused its discretion.The trial justice suppress statements based on its findings that Defendant was in custody when he voluntarily accompanied the police detectives in an unmarked vehicle to search for evidence, that Defendant did not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waive his Miranda rights, and that Defendant's video-recorded statement was inadmissible in accordance with Missouri v. Seibert, 542 U.S. 600 (2004). The Supreme Court vacated the superior court's order, holding (1) one of the statements at issue was admissible in evidence; and (2) remand was required for limited factual determination by the trial justice as to whether the other statement was a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of Defendant's Fifth Amendment rights. View "State v. Morillo" on Justia Law

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The Supreme Court affirmed in part and vacated in part the order of the superior court granting summary judgment in favor of The Travelers Indemnity Company and denying Atmed Treatment Center's motion for summary judgment, holding that summary judgment was improperly granted on count three of the complaint.Folosade Olofinlade filed a charge of discrimination with the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights alleging that Atmed's conduct against her and her brother-in-law constituted discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and other state and federal laws. Atmed demanded that Travelers defend it against the claims in accordance with a commercial general liability insurance policy that Atmed held with Travelers. Travelers disclaimed coverage. Thereafter, Olofinlade filed suit. Atmed commenced this action seeking a declaratory judgment that Travelers had a duty to defend Atmed before the Commission and asserting a breach-of-contract claim against Travelers. The trial court granted summary judgment for Travelers as to all counts. The Supreme Court reversed as to count three of the complaint, holding that because Travelers did not request summary judgment as to this count, the trial justice exceeded her authority in granting summary judgment as to that count. View "Atmed Treatment Center, Inc. v. Travelers Indemnity Co." on Justia Law

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The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court convicting and committing Defendant for one count of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree child abuse, holding that there was no prejudicial error in this case.Specifically, the Supreme Court held that the trial justice (1) did not err in denying Defendant's motion to suppress the statement he made while at the police station after concluding that Defendant was not seized without probable cause prior to giving his statement; (2) did not err in denying Defendant's motion to dismiss all counts of the indictment as unconstitutionally vague; and (3) did not overlook or misconceive material evidence in denying Defendant's motion for new trial. View "State v. Jimenez" on Justia Law

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The Supreme Court quashed the portion of the superior court order granting partial summary judgment in favor of Plaintiffs as to liability against Westlo Management, LLC on counts one, two, three, and seven of Plaintiffs' third-amended complaint, holding that the record was inadequate for a determination of whether the hearing justice abused his discretion in granting the motion to intervene filed by The Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights.Plaintiff Curtis Andrade filed a charge of discrimination with the Commission. The Commission found probable cause that Defendants had violated Plaintiff's rights. Plaintiff then filed this action, after which the hearing justice granted the Commission's motion to intervene as a party plaintiff. The hearing justice granted Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment on four counts against Westlo, finding that Westlo had discriminated against Plaintiff by denying him the reasonable accommodation of having his dog his residence. The Supreme Court vacated the decision below, holding that Westlo failed provide the Court with a proper transcript of the hearing on the Commission's motion to intervene this Court was unable to conduct a meaningful review of the superior court's decisions on the issue of the Commission's intervention. View "Andrade v. Westlo Management LLC" on Justia Law