PROVIDENCE — A Superior Court judge yesterday denied a request by lawyers for the Narragansett Indians charged in the 2003 smoke-shop raid that forensic investigators be appointed to try to recover potentially deleted state police e-mails.

Judge Susan E. McGuirl ruled that security concerns such an invasive search would raise, the estimated $30,000-plus cost and the improbability that valuable information could be retrieved outweighed the potential benefit to the tribal members’ defense.

“This is not the kind of case that will be determined from records,” McGuirl said in Providence County Superior Court. “We have live witnesses who will be presented to the jury.”

Defense lawyers had asked McGuirl to order a search of the state police computer systems to recover e-mails and other records possibly sent to retired Inspector Gary Treml. They argued the state should bear the projected cost of $37,000 to $83,000.

Treml conducted the internal investigation into the raid, at Governor Carcieri’s behest, that concluded the state police acted appropriately. He testified twice in recent weeks that he believed he collected computerized witness statements as well as hand-delivered accounts from some of the 51 officers involved. His electronic files were deleted when he retired shortly after the raid.

McGuirl noted in her ruling that no e-mails to or from Treml have been turned over in the hundreds of pages of documents provided by the state police — in apparent contrast to his testimony.

She added it did not appear — as acknowledged by the defense — the state acted in bad faith by deleting the e-mails. Therefore, it did not constitute a violation of the Narragansetts’ rights to due process, she said.

She was not convinced by the testimony of a computer expert called by the defense that meaningful evidence would be recovered through a costly and time-consuming forensic investigation. A snippet of an e-mail from a witness statement already in the record would not prove helpful, she said.

“I think the answer after hearing all these experts is ‘we don’t know,’  ” McGuirl said.

In addition, most of the evidence likely to be found could be obtained from other sources: witnesses, photographs and video footage of the raid, she said.

The state police executed a search warrant on a tribal smoke shop, at Carcieri’s order, on July 14, 2003, to stop the tribe from selling cigarettes without charging Rhode Island taxes. As TV cameras rolled, the raid turned violent and seven Narragansetts, including Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas, are awaiting trial on misdemeanor charges related to the confrontation.

McGuirl will hear arguments Monday on a defense motion that the cases be dismissed because of the state’s delay in providing evidence. The trial is set to begin Feb. 25, if it proceeds.

kmulvane@projo.com