Providence Criminal Lawyer; Rhode Island Criminal Lawyer; RI Supreme Court criticizes Family Court decision

Rhode Island Family Lawyer; Providence Family Lawyer; Providence Juvenile Lawyer; Rhode Island Juvenile Criminal Lawyer; Providence Criminal Lawyer; Rhode Island Criminal Lawyer

The Providence Journal reports today that the R.I. Supreme Court upheld the decision of a Family Court judge to treat a juvenile offender as an adult and upheld several other decisions made by the Family Court judge, but not without a large dose of criticism. The high court took issue with what it viewed as "automatic" decisions of the Family Court without full hearings and without appreciation for the benefits of treating juveniles within that system which afford protections for them, including anonymity.

Rhode Island Family Lawyer; Providence Family Lawyer; Providence Juvenile Lawyer; Rhode Island Juvenile Criminal Lawyer; Providence Criminal Lawyer; Rhode Island Criminal Lawyer

Attorney Claudia Gregoire wishes to thank and recognize the assistance of Ms. Stephanie Katherine Yellin, student at Brown University, Class of 2010, with a major in anthropology, in the preparation of this blog post.

www.georgejwestlaw.com

Rhode Island Criminal Lawyer; Providence Criminal Lawyer; Fraud Lawyer; Sentencing in Fraud Case

Rhode Island Criminal Lawyer; Providence Criminal Lawyer; Fraud Lawyer

The Providence Journal reported on the sentencing of Ms. Tashia Bodden, owner of Fascination Salon on Elmwood Avenue, was sentenced to a day in prison and six months of home confinement for conspiring with friend, Lisa Torres, to commit bank fraud. Torres purchased nine foreclosed properties for a cheap price and then found friends and associates willing to use their credit to purchase the properties from her. Torres promised to pay them back and make the actual mortgage payments, yet she never followed through, and the loans went into default. In the process, Torres pocketed about $674,000. Bodden aided the process by providing mortgage lenders will false information—making it look like the home buyers worked at her salon. While there is no evidence that Bodden profited, the scheme could not have succeeded without her. Bodden apologized in court, saying, “I made a really bad decision to help someone I thought was my friend.”

Rhode Island Criminal Lawyer; Providence Criminal Lawyer; Fraud Lawyer

www.georgejwestlaw.com

Attorney Claudia Gregoire wishes to thank and recognize the assistance of Ms. Stephanie Katherine Yellin, student at Brown University, Class of 2010, with a major in anthropology, in the preparation of this blog post.

Rhode Island Criminal Lawyer; Providence Criminal Lawyer; Criminal Appeals; 1st Circ Upholds

Rhode Island Criminal Lawyer; Providence Criminal Lawyer; Rhode Island Criminal Appeals; Providence Criminal Appeals

A recent First Circuit Court of Appeals decision, reported in a Providence Journal article, upheld the denial of the motion to suppress Ricardo Mejia's confession and affirmed his conviction. In December of 2006, Mejia was convicted of selling two kilograms of cocaine to undercover informants. During his trial, Rhode Island criminal lawyer George J. West objected to many pieces of evidence including using information or pieces of a purported confession of Mejia's which was not recorded by police. Attorney West was successful in obtaining a jury instruction that the jury could take into account the fact that officers did not record in their decision of whether the confession was voluntary. In the appellate decision, Mejia’s Rhode Island criminal lawyer on appeal George J. West argued that prosecutors had never proven that Mejia voluntarily waived his Miranda Rights during that interview. Upholding the earlier conviction, Judge Norman Stahl of the 1^st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, wrote that “the totality of the circumstances indicate that this was a voluntary conversation that Mejia undertook after having been fully advised of his rights.” The court declined however to create a new "automatic" implied waiver rule whereby each time a defendant speaks after being advised of rights, a waiver would be considered valid. The entire decision is available for reading here.

Rhode Island Criminal Lawyer; Providence Criminal Lawyer; Rhode Island Criminal Appeals; Providence Criminal Appeals

www.georgejwestlaw.com

Attorney Claudia Gregoire wishes to thank and recognize the assistance of Ms. Stephanie Katherine Yellin, student at Brown University, Class of 2010, with a major in anthropology, in the preparation of this blog post.

Criminal Law; Inmate Population Drops As a Result of Program

Criminal Law; Criminal Lawyer; Providence, Rhode Island

The Providence Journal reports that fewer prisoners are being held at the A.C.I. as a result of a 'good behavior' program. According to the article, the prison population dropped by 87 inmates.

www.georgejwestlaw.com

Criminal Law; Criminal Lawyer; Providence Island

RI Man's Charge is Upped to Murder

According to R.I. Lawyer's Weekly, a Rhode Island man initially accused of abusing and assaulting the 6-year-old son of his girlfriend, is now facing a murder charge. The child was pronounced dead at Hasbro hospital soon after police found him unconscious in Cranston. Prosecutors announced the enhanced charge at Mr. Michael Patino's arraignment in District Court in Warwick Rhode Island. Patino entered no plea. Source: R.I. Lawyer's Weekly Octo. 19, 2009.

Providence criminal lawyers; Rhode Island criminal lawyers. Providence criminal defense lawyers; Rhode Island criminal defense lawyers.

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More Street Workers to Flee Criminal Past at Providence's Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence

The Providence Journal reports that 10 more people will join the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence in Providence RI. These workers mostly have criminal pasts and will be assigned to persuade Rhode Island youths to avoid a life of crime.

Projo Article on Deficiencies of RI's Probation System

In a recent article, the Providence Journal reports an interesting (and disturbing) aspect of RI criminal legal system. The article describes the trajectory of a man out on probation, who was found to be in violation of its terms when arrested for a robbery he said he did not commit. Under the low standard "reasonably satisfied" (much lower than the stringent beyond a reasonable doubt criminal trial standard), the Court found it was reasonably satisfied that the peace had been disturbed and a crime committed, in violation of the man's terms of probation. He was thus sent back to jail. A few years later, under the beyond a reasonable doubt standard, he was fully acquitted of the robbery charge, but in Rhode Island, a clearing of guilt on the underlying charge does not mean automatic reversal of the probation violation decision. A person, despite the acquittal, can remain in prison for violating probation.

www.georgejwestlaw.com