PROVIDENCE — A judge Friday set Jan. 26 as the trial date for Ryan A. Greenberg, the Barrington teenager accused of striking and killing his friend with a boat on the Barrington River.

Greenberg, 18, has been indicted on charges of second-degree murder, reckless boating with death resulting, underage possession of alcohol and refusal to submit to a chemical test. He has pleaded not guilty.

Authorities say that on July 17, 2007, Greenberg was at the wheel of a motorboat when it struck and killed Patrick Murphy, a 17-year-old Barrington boy who had been kneeboarding behind the boat. Greenberg was 17 at the time, but this past summer, a Family Court judge waived jurisdiction over him, clearing the way for a trial in an adult court.

Following a status conference, Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Procaccini said, “My job is to conduct a fair, efficient and orderly trial respecting everyone’s rights, on both sides of the case. I am setting a tight schedule to allow the things that are required to be done but to keep the case moving along.”

Defense lawyers have filed a motion seeking subpoenas so they can inspect and test five boats, including the 20½-foot-long Sailfish motorboat that Greenberg was operating. And Procaccini set a hearing for 2 p.m. Thursday to consider that motion.

In court documents, lead defense lawyer William P. Devereaux said, “The tests and examinations are clearly relevant to the issues in this case in which an 18-year-old defendant has been charged with an offense which carries a potential sentence of life imprisonment.”

Defense lawyers are seeking permission to examine the Sailfish, which is owned by Andrew W. Davis. They also want to examine a Mastercraft ski boat owned by John Edmond Lyons Sr.; the Barrington harbor master’s vessel; a Cobalt boat owned by Gary Maclaine, of Barrington; and a Stingray boat owned by John H. Devaney III, of East Providence.

“The main issue in this case is the manner in which the defendant operated the Davis boat and which vessels may have caused Murphy’s injuries,” Devereaux wrote.

He noted state environmental police officer Daniel K. White has taken the Sailfish for a test run and compiled a reconstruction report, which concludes that the boat struck Murphy in the head, causing his death. The report also concludes that the Mastercraft, which aided in searching for Murphy, struck the body “well after the initial fatal head injuries.”

Defense lawyers said the opinions of White and another environmental police officer are the only evidence linking the Sailfish propeller to the fatal cuts on Murphy’s head.

“Defendant’s experts must determine whether vessels which were apparently near the scene of the accident at or near the time of the accident have comparable motors and propellers to the Davis vessel and whether any of those vessels could have caused any of Murphy’s injuries,” Devereaux wrote. “The defendant, at substantial expense, has retained experts who will be traveling from Mandeville, Louisiana,” to inspect and test the boats.

Also Friday, the state Supreme Court rejected, on technical grounds, an appeal filed on behalf of “gap kids” — other than Greenberg — who were charged as adults during the 130 days when Rhode Island prosecuted 17-year-olds as adults.

In 2007, Governor Carcieri proposed saving money by treating 17-year-olds as adults in criminal matters, and the General Assembly adopted the idea, which was based on the notion that the Adult Correctional Institutions would prove cheaper than the Training School. But the savings proved to be questionable, at best, and the Assembly soon repealed the law. But the repeal was not retroactive, so that created a population of about 500 “gap kids” charged as adults between July 1 and Nov. 8, 2007.

In July, the Supreme Court ruled that those teenagers are entitled to Family Court hearings to determine whether they should be tried in adult courts. But while it had broader implications, that ruling technically applied only to Greenberg and to Harold Chartier, a teenager charged with simple assault, a misdemeanor.

Friday’s Supreme Court order dealt with an appeal that the public defender’s office had filed, under the heading “State v. John Doe,” on behalf of “gap kids” that it represented in Superior Court and other “gap kids” who lacked their own lawyers. The public defender sought to dismiss those cases or transfer them to Family Court.

“This appeal is not properly before the court,” the Supreme Court said in the order. “The parties candidly acknowledge that ‘John Doe,’ who was identified as the aggrieved party in the case, is not a real person. Significantly, the record before us is devoid of any indictment or criminal information upon which the order of dismissal may rest. Further, a list of names appended to the omnibus motion to dismiss or transfer jurisdiction does not alter the result in this case. Accordingly, the appeal is denied.”

Chief public defender John J. Hardiman said the order has no impact on “gap kids” his office represents because the Supreme Court has already spoken on how such cases should be handled. Many of the teens have already had their cases resolved in Family Court, and others are awaiting hearings to determine whether they’ll be prosecuted in adult courts, he said.

Assistant Attorney General Susan E. Urso agreed the order won’t have an impact, saying prosecutors have been guided by the Supreme Court’s July ruling. Some teens have voluntarily gone to adult court, some have remained in Family Court and others are awaiting waiver hearings, she said.

efitzpat@projo.com