Falstaff Brewing Corp. re: Narragansett Brewery Fire, Matter of

• Decision Date: 23 February 1994
• Docket Number: No. 93-264-M,93-264-M
• Parties: Matter of FALSTAFF BREWING CORPORATION RE: NARRAGANSETT BREWERY FIRE. P..
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

Page 1047

637 A.2d 1047

Matter of FALSTAFF BREWING CORPORATION RE: NARRAGANSETT BREWERY FIRE.

No. 93-264-M.P..

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

Feb. 23, 1994.

Rajaram Suryanarayan, Gerald C. DeMaria, Higgins, Cavanagh & Cooney, Providence, for plaintiff.

Charles Nystedt, Providence, Robert Flaherty, Warwick, for defendant.

OPINION

LEDERBERG, Justice.

This case came before the Supreme Court on a petition for certiorari filed by Kathleen Kowalewski Arsenault and her minor son, John P. Kowalewski (petitioners). The petitioners sought review of a Family Court order mandating the disclosure of the juvenile's police records as they relate to a fire that occurred in a building owned by the respondent, Falstaff Brewing Corporation (Falstaff). The Family Court, after a hearing, determined that G.L.1956 (1981 Reenactment) § 14-1-66, as enacted by P.L.1981, ch. 317, § 1, authorizes the release of the police records to the victim of the crime. For the reasons stated herein, we agree with the Family Court's decision and affirm the order.

I Facts/Travel

On October 13, 1991, a fire occurred at the site of the former Narragansett Brewery complex in Cranston, Rhode Island. In late October 1991 the Cranston police department arrested and charged two juveniles, Daniel J. Parenteau and John P. Kowalewski, with multiple counts relating to the fire. After trial, petitioner John P. Kowalewski was found not delinquent on the charge of burning a building, and the charge of breaking and entering in the daytime was dismissed.

On or about January 24, 1992, Falstaff obtained the release of the juveniles' names pursuant to § 14-1-66. Thereafter, on July 14, 1992, Falstaff filed a civil action in Providence County Superior Court against both juveniles and their parents, claiming damages resulting from the October 1991 fire. In pursuit of the civil action, Falstaff served a subpoena duces tecum upon the Cranston police department in October 1992 seeking the records of the arrest and charges against the minors. The petitioners immediately moved to quash the subpoena and moved for a protective order. After an in camera inspection of the Cranston police department's investigative file, the Superior Court quashed the subpoena duces tecum and granted petitioners' motion for protective order "without prejudice to any right that [Falstaff] may have to petition the Rhode Island Family Court for access to" the records.

Falstaff then filed a motion for disclosure of the police records in Family Court. The petitioners objected to this motion and moved for an order pursuant to G.L.1956 (1981 Reenactment) §§ 12-1-12, as amended by P.L.1988, ch. 638, § 1 and 12-1-12.1, as amended by P.L.1988, ch. 638, § 2, expunging and sealing the record of the Cranston police department and the record of the Family Court. On May 10, 1993, after reviewing memoranda by the parties and hearing oral arguments, the Family Court granted Falstaff's motion to release the police records and denied petitioners' motion for stay. The Family Court justice reasoned that the confidentiality that a juvenile offender enjoys is found in the protection of the juvenile's name from public disclosure. Because the Legislature authorized release of a juvenile's name by virtue of § 14-1-66, the cloak of confidentiality has been removed, and the victim may obtain the police records relating to the crime that the juvenile was accused of committing.

On May 13, 1993, this court issued a stay of the Family Court order and subsequently granted petitioners' writ of certiorari. ¹ Our review by writ of certiorari is limited to examining the record to determine if an error of law has been committed. Picerne v. DiPrete, 542 A.2d 1101, 1104 (R.I.1988). This court will not weigh the evidence presented in the case; rather, we are constrained to examine the record to determine whether legally competent evidence exists to support the court's findings. Ervin v. Ervin, 458 A.2d 342, 344 (R.I.1983).

The sole issue on appeal is a question of law: Does § 14-1-66 authorize the release of a juvenile's police records to the victim of a crime? For the reasons stated herein, we are of the opinion that § 14-1-66 reveals a clear legislative intent to allow release of a juvenile's police record to a victim.

II Discussion

The Family Court justice, in a bench decision, interpreted § 14-1-66 as allowing release of the police record of a juvenile in addition to release of that juvenile's name and address. Resolution of the issue in the instant case, therefore, requires the statutory construction of § 14-1-66.

Section 14-1-66 provides in pertinent part:

"Application by victim to obtain name of juvenile.--Upon written motion by the victim of a crime or his attorney, the family court may, in its discretion, and upon good cause shown, divulge the name and address of the juvenile accused of committing the crime solely for the purpose of allowing the victim to commence a civil action against the juvenile and/or his parents to recover for damages sustained as a result of said crime * * *."

Well-established canons of statutory construction delegate to this court the function and duty as final arbiter on questions of statutory construction. Krikorian v. Rhode Island Department of Human Services, 606 A.2d 671, 675 (R.I.1992); D'Ambra v. North Providence School Committee, 601 A.2d 1370, 1374 (R.I.1992). As the final arbiter this court has the responsibility of effectuating the intent of the Legislature by examining a statute in its entirety and giving the words their plain and ordinary meaning. Town of East Greenwich v. O'Neil, 617 A.2d 104, 108 (R.I.1992); Krikorian, 606 A.2d at 675; In re Advisory Opinion to the Governor, 504 A.2d 456, 459 (R.I.1986). A statute may not, however, be construed in a way that would result in "absurdities or would defeat the underlying purpose of the enactment."

Brennan v. Kirby, 529 A.2d 633, 637 (R.I.1987). In particular, " '[i]f a mechanical application of a statutory definition produces an absurd result or defeats legislative intent, this court will look beyond mere semantics and give effect to the purpose of the act.' " Labbadia v. State, 513 A.2d 18, 22 (R.I.1986). Thus, our primary task in construing a statute is to attribute to the enactment the meaning most consistent with its policies and with the obvious purposes of the Legislature, Brennan, 529 A.2d at 637, by viewing the statute in light of the circumstances that motivated its passage. Krikorian, 606 A.2d at 675.

A Legislative Intent

Applying these principles to § 14-1-66, we begin with the plain language of the statute to determine the legislative intent behind its enactment. Section 14-1-66 clearly states that the purpose of breaching the cloak of confidentiality afforded to juvenile offenders is to allow victims "to recover for damages sustained as a result of" the crime the juvenile is "accused of committing." ² The method of recovery envisioned by the Legislature is a civil action brought in District or Superior Court. In furtherance of this objective, § 14-1-66 expressly authorizes the release of the name and address of the juvenile offender. The decisive inquiry therefore becomes whether § 14-1-66 also implicitly authorizes the release of a police file or whether the statute should be narrowly construed to allow release solely of the juvenile's name and address. We are of the opinion that a reasonable interpretation of § 14-1-66 would authorize release of the record to a victim.

The protection a juvenile offender enjoys is rooted in withholding the juvenile's name from public disclosure. The actual actions taken by a juvenile, in and by themselves, are not subject to the protections of confidentiality. Rather, the confidentiality stems from the withholding from the public of the name of the juvenile who committed or is accused of committing the criminal acts. See Smith v. Daily Mail Publishing Co., 443 U.S. 97, 107-09, 99 S.Ct. 2667, 2673-74, 61 L.Ed.2d 399, 407-09 (1979) (Rehnquist, J., concurring). Therefore, by allowing disclosure of the names of the juveniles, the Legislature lifted the cloak of confidentiality that generally protects juvenile offenders. Once the confidentiality has been breached, there is no reasonable basis for withholding from the victim the police records and the investigative file as it relates to the crime for which the victim seeks damages.

The petitioners, however, advocated a restrictive interpretation of § 14-1-66 to allow the release of only the juvenile's name and address. According to petitioners, the legislative intent behind § 14-1-66 has been served once the victim has received the name and address of the juvenile. We disagree. The clear legislative intent behind § 14-1-66 is to allow victims to recover, via a civil action, damages suffered at the hands of a juvenile offender. If we were to adopt petitioners' interpretation of the statute, the practical result would be frustration of this express intent rather than fostering that intent. It is unreasonable to conclude that the General Assembly intended to allow victims to bring actions to recover damages but then denied them the tools for obtaining that relief. In essence, the restrictive reading of § 14-1-66 that petitioners advocate would render nugatory the legislative purpose of the statute. This court will not adopt statutory interpretations that create absurd results or defeat the underlying purpose of an enactment. Brennan, 529 A.2d at 637.

B Conflict with § 14-1-64

The petitioners also argued that the Family Court justice erred by failing to factor § 14-1-64, as amended by P.L.1990, ch. 325, § 1, into the interpretation of § 14-1-66. Section 14-1-64 specifically bars public disclosure of a juvenile's police record except, upon a showing of good cause, to parents, guardians, attorneys, and those in loco parentis to the juvenile. Section 14-1-64 provides in pertinent part:

"All police records relating to the arrest,...