PROVIDENCE — The state Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Governor Carcieri will not have to take the stand at the trial of seven Narragansett Indians charged when the state police raided a tribal smoke shop four summers ago.

The court found that the governor’s testimony was not relevant to defense arguments that the state police used undue force in executing the raid. The ruling did not address the governor’s claims that he should be spared from testifying as the state’s chief executive.

“We need not address that question … because, at an even more fundamental level, we are unable to fathom how the governor’s testimony, even if compelled, would be relevant to the theory of the defense that the state police used excessive force,” the court wrote.

The troopers were acting under the command of a search warrant issued by District Court, and not instructions given by the governor or the state police superintendent at the time, Col. Steven M. Pare, the court said.

“Neither the governor nor Col. Pare was at the smoke shop the day of the incident, and therefore neither of them was in position where they could decide whether force was necessary in light of the circumstances,” the court said in a decision written by Chief Justice Frank J. Williams. “Even if the governor ordered the troopers to withdraw if they faced resistance, the fact that they might not have complied with such an instruction does not have any bearing on the question” of whether the officers used reasonable force.

At the governor’s orders, state police executed a search warrant on a smoke shop the tribe opened on its land in Charlestown on July 14, 2003, after the Narragansetts began selling cigarettes without charging Rhode Island taxes. The raid descended into a violent scuffle, and seven adult Narragansetts, including Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas, were arrested on misdemeanor charges of assault, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Carcieri said in numerous statements in the days and weeks that followed that the police did not follow his instructions to back off if they met resistance.

Providence County Superior Court Judge Susan E. McGuirl ruled in August that the governor must testify about the orders he gave Pare. The defendants’ right to put on their best defense outweighed the governor’s claims of executive privilege, she said.

Carcieri appealed to the state Supreme Court and the justices heard arguments in late October. The court concluded yesterday that McGuirl’s judgment was not sound and represented an abuse of discretion.

The decision came as a blow to Thomas, who said he would look into appealing in federal court. He worried it would interfere with the defendants’ ability to get a fair trial.

“Isn’t this kind of like Osama Bin Laden saying he wasn’t at the World Trade Center, but he’s still guilty,” Thomas said. “This comes down to him giving orders and what orders did he give.”

“From our perspective if the leader of the Narragansett Indian nation has to testify; the leader of Rhode Island has to testify,” Thomas said.

The governor’s office said in a brief statement that Carcieri was pleased with the decision.

Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, whose office maintained the governor’s testimony had no bearing on the prosecution, said in a statement that he was happy to see the cases proceed in Superior Court. The Supreme Court’s attempts to mediate a plea deal collapsed Thursday.

“I’m glad that the last impediment to this much-delayed trial has, at long last, been removed,” Lynch said. “With all due respect to the governor, his testimony would never have mattered: the Rhode Island State Police were at the smoke shop executing a court-approved search warrant, and on the basis of the authority of this warrant, they and they alone had to decide what level of force was necessary when confronted with the defendants’ use of force.”

William P. Devereaux, who represents six of the Narragansetts, said he was disappointed by the ruling.

“[The governor’s testimony] wasn’t the key to our defense,” he said. “It’s a piece of our defense.”

He said it was unusual for an appeals court to second-guess a trial judge’s decision about what evidence and witnesses were relevant.

He noted that a district judge had recently ruled that then Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco must testify about that state’s hurricane preparedness at the trial of three nursing home executives charged with negligent homicide.

He said he would speak to an appeals lawyer about possible options. “My clients have always been suspicious that they weren’t going to get a fair shake.”

The trial in Providence County Superior Court is scheduled for Jan. 7, but Devereaux has said he will ask for a delay.

kmulvane@projo.com