RIVERA

PROVIDENCE — Is he going to get out of prison now?

That was the first question Iris Rivera asked when she heard that the state Supreme Court had overturned the conviction of Charles E. “Manny” Pona in the murder of her 15-year-old daughter, Jennifer Rivera, who was gunned down the night before she was to testify against Pona in a murder trial.

Rep. Anastasia P. Williams, D-Providence, said she broke the news of Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling to Rivera and immediately assured her that Pona would remain behind bars for the murder of another teenager, Hector Feliciano.

Williams, who has known Iris Rivera for about a decade and now serves as her spokeswoman, said Rivera was “distraught and confused” by the ruling.

“She is disappointed in the system. She feels as if her daughter’s efforts at standing up were in vain,” Williams said. “She said, ‘Just imagine. Jennifer was courageous enough to stick her nose into something that didn’t affect her personally’ and the type of support she is now getting is completely unfair.”

Williams said Rivera is questioning why other people would come forward as witnesses in the future, given that her daughter was killed and Pona’s conviction has been vacated. She recalled Rivera saying, “Wow. What message does it send to other individuals who are witnesses to a crime?”

But Williams said Rivera did gain some peace of mind from meeting with Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch at Williams’ house on Thursday night.

And she said Rivera feels strongly that “We, as a state, need to make sure this case is tried again — that he gets sentenced and that Jennifer receives justice for her effort for coming forward.”

Williams said Rivera does not want to talk to reporters, and “for safety’s sake” she and her family are leaving the country.

The Supreme Court vacated Pona’s conviction on charges that he conspired with others to have Rivera killed in May 2000, the day before she was to testify that she saw Pona running from the scene of Feliciano’s murder. Pona’s half brother, Dennard Walker, admitted he shot Rivera to silence her testimony, and he was given a life sentence.

In the unanimous Supreme Court decision, Justice Francis X. Flaherty said Rivera’s murder was “a profound affront to the basic norms of civilized society.” But, he said, “Even those accused of despicable acts are entitled to a fair trial.”

The high court said the trial judge, the late Superior Court Judge William A. Dimitri Jr., should not have admitted certain evidence related to Pona’s conviction for Feliciano’s murder, and Dimitri should not have admitted the entire audiotape of Rivera’s testimony at Pona’s bail hearing.

In an interview Friday, Lynch vowed to prosecute Pona at a new trial. “I am dedicated, and the law-enforcement community is dedicated, to fighting on,” he said.

Lynch also appealed to members of the public to continue coming forward as witnesses, just as Rivera did.

“What we need to do is dig our heels in,” he said. “It is heartbreaking that she lost her life doing one of the most courageous and brave things one could do, but we should look to her as a symbol of the obligation we owe to each other — to fulfill the duty to protect each other and to speak up if we see violence.”

Lynch said that if it wasn’t for Rivera’s courage, Pona would not be in prison today for Feliciano’s murder. “A murderer would be on the street,” he said.

When asked what he would say to someone witnessing a violent crime today, Lynch said, “I beg upon them to realize we as a community cannot do it without the people’s help. I wish these horrors never occurred, but the reality is we need their help.”

Lynch said he was disappointed in the Supreme Court decision. He said he thinks Dimitri had the correct analysis of the evidentiary issues mentioned in the ruling. But he said the high court ruling “does not hinder us from going forward and seeking justice for Jennifer Rivera and her family.”

Lynch said that on a personal and professional level, he wanted to meet with Iris Rivera after the Supreme Court ruling was issued Thursday. He said he told her, “I’m sorry for the lingering pain, the pain that may be even deepened today.” And he assured her he will continue prosecuting Pona.

“Anyone who thinks this was a classroom exercise is wrong. The heartache and trauma continues,” Lynch said. “It’s about standing up and making sure that this vicious thug serves an appropriate sentence for calling for the execution of a brave and courageous young woman who stood as a witness in a case.”

Although he is serving a life sentence plus eight years for the Feliciano murder, Pona would be eligible for parole about 24 years after his sentence began, Lynch said. So unless he receives another sentence for Rivera’s murder, Pona could be up for parole in about another 16 years. And, Lynch said, “I want to make sure he never sees the light of day again.”

The Rivera killing, which attracted national attention, prompted criticism of the police, prosecutors and the state witness protection program, and it led to changes in the witness protection program.

In 2004, Iris Rivera filed a lawsuit in federal court, claiming that city police officers and state prosecutors had violated her daughter’s constitutional rights by failing to protect her after promising to do so. But a U.S. District judge in Providence dismissed the suit, and the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal.

In an interview on Friday, Michael T. Eskey, one of the lawyers who represented Rivera in that civil action, said, “You can’t fault the Supreme Court for deciding the way it did. Everyone deserves a fair trial.”

But, Eskey said, “For the Rivera family, it’s obviously a very difficult thing. Jennifer was a young woman doing the right thing. To not be able to pursue a civil action and then to have this happen must be a double blow to the family.”

Eskey said he has not spoken to Iris Rivera since the decision was issued, but he said the family is probably not looking at it as a lawyer would.

“It must feel to them that Jennifer stood up and did the right thing, and it must seem like it was an exercise in futility — all for nothing,” he said. “What does it say to people in a similar situation? Who is going to come forward and help the police when Jennifer paid the ultimate price?”

U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who was the state’s attorney general when Rivera was killed, issued a statement, noting that Pona remains behind bars for Feliciano’s murder and that the Supreme Court ruling has no effect on that sentence.

“I respect the Supreme Court’s determination that the trial judge erred,” Whitehouse said. “My thoughts and prayers are with Jennifer’s family, which has suffered so much. I applaud Attorney General Lynch’s decision to retry the case, and I’m confident that, under the Supreme Court’s new guidance, justice will prevail.”

efitzpat@projo.com