CHARLESTOWN — The criminal cases that grew from the state police raid on a Narragansett Indian smoke shop in July 2003 took almost five years to bring to trial at legal costs estimated in the tens and, for the tribe, hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Though the charges were misdemeanors that typically entail little if any jail time, the cases represent something more to the parties involved: matters of principle.

For the state, it was the contention that no one has the right to assault state troopers or violate Rhode Island law.

“[Y]ou either prosecute cases according to the rules, basic concepts, and underpinnings of our legal system — the most basic of which is, ours is a system of laws and not men — or you don’t,” said Michael J. Healey, spokesman for Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, whose office prosecuted the cases. He added in an e-mail statement: “ ‘[W]inning’ wasn’t ‘so important’ to us; trying the cases in the appropriate venue, the way all other cases are handled, was and is important.”

For the Narragansett Indian tribe, it was tribal leaders’ belief that the state police used unnecessary force and their understanding in July 2003 that the tribe’s sovereignty entitled it to open the tax-free shop on its land in Charlestown, according to Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas.

“We believed we had the right, at that time, to do what we did,” said Thomas, who leads the tribe of about 2,400.

Governor Carcieri, on the advice of Lynch, ordered the state police to execute a warrant to stop the tribe from selling tax-free cigarettes on tribal land. Seven adult Narragansetts were arrested for misdemeanor charges during the scuffle that ensued. Charges against a juvenile were dismissed.

The criminal prosecution was on hold for more than three years, until federal courts ruled definitively in late 2006 that the state police could enforce Rhode Island laws on tribal land under the 1978 agreement that gave the Narragansetts 1,800 acres.

On April 4, after a six-week trial in Providence County Superior Court, a jury found Thomas and two other tribal leaders guilty of a total of four counts. The jury acquitted the Narragansetts of 12 other charges and the judge dismissed another, clearing four tribal members altogether.

Thomas was convicted of simple assault on a trooper, Tribal Councilman Hiawatha Brown of disorderly conduct and simple assault on a trooper, and First Councilman Randy Noka of disorderly conduct. Brown and Thomas face at most one year in prison, a $1,000 fine, or both for the assault charges.

But if a defendant has no prior record, the standard sentence for such misdemeanor charges would be filing the charge for a year and then quashing it if the person stays out of trouble, Healey said. While Thomas and Noka have clean records, Brown pleaded no contest to assaulting a Charlestown police officer and driving with a suspended license in 2004.

Asked what drove the tribe to pursue the case through to trial at costs Thomas estimated at as much as $300,000, he said it was their belief that the state police used undue force.

“We just thought it was excessive, so obviously we’re going to push our issue,” he said. “They threw us around like rag dolls.”

Thomas noted that he, Brown and Councilman John Brown were willing to enter Alford pleas, in which they would not have admitted guilt but would have acknowledged that they could be found guilty at trial. The state rejected that plea, he said.

The trial was par for the course for the tribe’s relationship with the state, he said. “Fighting them costs money. It’s something that just had to be done.”

He named a suit brought by the state that argues another 32 acres the tribe owns should be subject to Rhode Island laws, and a 1996 federal law that bars the tribe from federal Indian gambling privileges on its other land, as evidence of the antagonistic relationship.

“We will try to communicate with the state, but we’re still leery,” he said following the jury’s mixed verdict. “Give us our rights on gaming. Give us something; otherwise we’ll just be leery of them.”

The tribe’s legal team consisted of William P. Devereaux, Gary Pelletier, John P. Walsh, and Matthew Reeber, all of Pannone, Lopes & Devereaux, as well as Kevin J. Bristow. Brian J. Carney, of Win Interactive, oversaw the tribe’s video presentations during the trial.

The tribe will not pay its legal fees with federal money it receives as a recognized tribe, but will use savings and tap its interest-bearing accounts, Thomas said.

The attorney general’s office could not calculate the full cost of prosecuting the criminal charges because its lawyers do not track the number of hours spent on a particular case on a given day, Special Assistant Attorney General Michael W. Field wrote in response to a records request.

In providing a figure for the estimated cost of prosecuting the trial, the attorney general’s office counted the Special Assistant Attorneys General Pamela Chin and Maria Deaton’s salaries from the day jury selection began, Feb. 25, through the April 4 verdict. The state placed Chin’s gross salary during that period at $10,080 for 308 hours, though it said she had accrued $4,728 for 98 hours of uncompensated time.

Deaton’s gross salary was calculated at $6,377 for 342 hours. She racked up 132 hours of uncompensated time, equaling $4,024.

The state estimated its total trial cost at $17,197, including copying fees, but did not add in Chin and Deaton’s uncompensated time, hours paralegals put in, or account for pretrial proceedings.

It also did not factor in time Assistant Attorney General Matthew Dawson, Chin and Deaton’s supervisor, spent observing the trial, particularly in its final weeks.

“Also, and I’m sorry if this appears to be a cheap shot, what we were reading in the paper was very different from the accounts we were getting from Pam and Maria,” Healey said in response to a question about what role Dawson played in the prosecution. Dawson, he said, provided the prosecutors with feedback about the trial and served as the office’s court reporter in case there is an appeal.

In addition, Healey noted that the tribe had brought three federal suits against the state related to the raid.

“By the Rhode Island Constitution and by statute, the attorney general’s office has no choice in the matter of defending the state when somebody sues,” Healey said. “It’s not by preference that we’re litigating the three civil cases. We can’t control when people sue, but we’re not doing our jobs and we’re not fulfilling our constitutional responsibilities if we don’t aggressively defend the State when somebody does sue. How much more would it cost taxpayers if we didn’t litigate on their behalf?”

Every case, he said, “criminal or civil, flows from one uncontested fact: We did not make the decision to open a smoke shop. The Narragansetts did, and the tribe knew the State’s position about the shop’s illegality before they opened it.”

Healey refused to comment about any plea deals that were considered, saying, “The trial is over but the case is not. There is still a motion pending.” Motions for a new trial will be argued April 28.

kmulvane@projo.com