11/07/2009

URI students take Narragansett to court over ‘orange sticker’ policy
URI students, renters, landlords oppose policy designed to clamp down on partying

11/06/2009

The hunt for Stephen Saccoccia’s hidden assets
PROVIDENCE –– It’s been more than 16 years since Stephen Saccoccia was sentenced to 660 years in prison for laundering money for Colombian drug lords. A man with lavish tastes, Saccoccia was a Cranston coin shop owner and precious metals dealer known for his free-spending ways. He wore a Rolex watch, rented apartments in London and New York City and offered Dom Perignon with the cold cuts he served to employees who came to his Christmas parties. For many years he had a raft of high-priced lawyers representing him. But now, as he sits in a West Virginia federal penitentiary for what amounts to a life sentence, he says he is destitute. Maybe that’s true. But the U.S. government has continued to hunt for his assets to satisfy a $136.3 million forfeiture order.

Few options in RI law to prosecute repeat suspended license offenders
WARWICK, R.I. _ Robert A. Notarianni arrived at District Court expecting he’d be walking right back out once he cleared up the little matter of his 17th charge of driving on a suspended license.

R.I. bar association plans legal clinic for seniors
The Rhode Island Bar Association is hosting legal clinics to help guide senior citizens in authorizing someone to make health-care decisions on their behalf should they become unable make choices themselves.

11/05/2009

Providence couple embroiled in search for Nazi art
PROVIDENCE

Narragansett Indian excused from trial
Tribal councilman Randy Noka had been subpoenaed to testify in a child-custody case

11/04/2009

Without notice expungements almost expanded
Measure sails through House during special session only to fail at last minute due to miscue in Senate

Settlement status sought in Station fire suit
A court conference is set next Tuesday to learn when a settlement report will be ready

Without notice expungements almost expanded
PROVIDENCE –– Amid the chaos of last week’s special legislative session, advocates of a bill that would automatically erase a whole new class of criminal records scored a short-lived victory at the State House.

11/03/2009

Prosecutors dispute early-release plea by John Cicilline, the Providence mayor’s brother
Prosecutors say only the prison bureau has control over Providence mayor’s brother

11/02/2009

Paying traffic tickets in R.I., while not painless, at least is now efficient

11/01/2009

R.I. Superior Court works on clearing civil-case backlog
Superior Court has about 1,400 cases declared ready for trial but yet to be heard

10/31/2009

Man held in killing of woman, 18
A 20-year-old man is being held without bail on charges he killed his girlfriend — the mother of his baby girl.

R.I. Supreme Court overturns 2003 rape conviction
Supreme Court says errors unfairly prejudiced jury; new trial planned

W. Warwick lawyer disbarred by high court
Todd. M. Amaral also works as a Rhode Island correctional officer

R.I. Supreme Court censures longtime attorney
The clients of J. Ronald Fishbein “deserve better,” says court

10/30/2009

Johnston police charge 4 with house break-ins
Officers investigate spike in cases, with more than 20 in past two to three months

10/29/2009

Providence man tailed hit-and-run driver to get plate number
Albert Garcia witnessed the Saturday night crash that left three seriously injured.

Woman to serve 20 years for murder of 76-year-old
Heather M. Catterall is sentenced to 40 years for killing Albert Dubois, of Newport, in July 2007

10/28/2009

Another wrong-site surgery at R.I. Hospital
An orthopedic surgeon at Rhode Island Hospital operated on the wrong finger during outpatient hand surgery on Thursday, the fifth in a string of wrong-site surgeries at the hospital over the past 2½ years.

RWU School of Law to boost pro bono work after $250,000 donation
Providence personal injury lawyer gives $250,000 to school

Before he became attorney general, Lynch lobbied for landfill deal
The attorney general says the work didn’t compromise his judgment

10/27/2009

RWU School of Law to boost pro bono work after $250,000 donation
The state’s only law school plans to increase the amount of free legal services it provides to low-income Rhode Islanders and groups that advocate for the needy, after a well-known lawyer donated $250,000 to expand Roger Williams University’s School of Law Pro Bono Collaborative.

Narragansett Indian Tribe tries to block subpoena of tribal leader
The public defender’s office wants Councilman Randy Noka to testify about tribe membership in a child-custody case

10/26/2009

Panel to narrow the field for R.I. Supreme Court
Judicial panel to narrow the field to 3 to 5 finalists for the R.I. Supreme Court and forward their names to Governor Carcieri.

10/25/2009

Support for R.I. judge not unanimous
At least 5 members of the 15-person committee that rates nominees to the federal court feel Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson does not meet the standards.

State believes mother accused of murder is still a threat
Tonya Fuller-Balletta, found not guilty by reason of insanity in 2007 of murdering her 12-year-old daughter, asks to represent herself in court.

10/23/2009

R.I. General Treasurer seeks to collect on Resource Recovery Corporation’s insurance policies
R.I.’s treasurer says the state should act; a rival, Patrick C. Lynch, says he’s playing politics.

R.I. Deputy House Majority Leader Sullivan pleads no contest to drunk driving
Deputy House Majority Leader Raymond J. Sullivan Jr. of Coventry says of the charge, “this is on me, and I needed to accept the responsibility.”

Ex-chief justice hired former driver’s niece
The retired chief justice, who also put his former driver’s mother on the state payroll, hired Alyssa Giudici into the Supreme Court summer internship program.

10/22/2009

Providence store’s bookkeeper guilty of embezzlement
After a mistrial, Kimberly St. Michele is convicted in a second trial.

10/21/2009

Derderian allowed to travel out of state
WARWICK — Michael Derderian, a co-owner of The Station nightclub who pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of 100 people killed in the fire there in 2003, will be allowed to travel out of state for a week in January, a Superior Court judge decided Tuesday.

State high court continues BYOB ban in Smithfield
The town has prohibited patrons of Isabella’s Restaurant from bringing their own alcoholic beverages since the owners failed to renew their liquor license.

10/18/2009

Little leukemia patient Hannah comes home to volunteers’ gift
PORTSMOUTH — Hannah Wertens slept last night in a pink princess bed, a canopy above her and a Hannah Montana doll close by.

Dig uncovers significant historical site in Narragansett
But the discovery of the Native American village dating to the 1300s is now at the center of a high-stakes legal battle.

10/16/2009

ACLU sues Pawtucket over use of sports fields
The suit by the ACLU alleges that the city gave preferential treatment to parochial schools that wanted to use the athletic fields.

‘Survivor’ star Hatch to be released from prison Friday
While Survivor star Richard Hatch will be released Friday from a federal lockup, he’s still contesting his sentence.

Japan releases man from jail
The former Rhode Island man was imprisoned when he went to Japan to try to retrieve his children who were taken by his ex-wife.

Cranston lawyer sworn in as Family Court judge
PROVIDENCE — John E. McCann III, a Cranston lawyer with 35 years’ experience in family relations law, was sworn in Thursday as Rhode Island’s newest Family Court judge.

10/15/2009

Court upholds firing of Smithfield teacher
The Smithfield social studies teacher accidentally stapled a student’s scalp, then tried to cover up the incident.

10/14/2009

Four arrested in assault at Providence Place
Three minors and an 18-year-old spit on a man before assaulting him and his wife, the police say.

10/10/2009

Lawyer’s license suspended for a year
The Rhode Island Supreme Court has ordered that the Stephen M. Hunter’s license to practice law be suspended for one year. Hunter has been convicted of five crimes.

10/09/2009

Scam artist to serve 5 years at ACI
Charles H. Pruenca Jr., who passed himself off as a Red Sox scout, real-estate investor and cancer patient, admitted taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from friends and investors.

Sexual assault charged in craigslist scheme
A West Warwick man faces sexual-assault charges after allegedly luring a woman to his home through a craigslist help-wanted ad.

Rhode Island victims’ names released in indictment of “craigslist” murder suspect
The alleged “craigslist killer” is to be tried here after his trial in Massachusetts.