Reise v. State

• Decision Date: 23 January 2007
• Docket Number: No. 2006-49-Appeal.,2006-49-Appeal.
• Citation: 913 A.2d 1052
• Parties: Stephen REISE v. STATE of Rhode Island.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

913 A.2d 1052

Stephen REISE v. STATE of Rhode Island.

No. 2006-49-Appeal.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

January 23, 2007.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Stephen Reise, pro se.

Aaron L. Weisman, Providence, for Defendant.

Present: WILLIAMS, C.J., GOLDBERG, FLAHERTY, SUTTELL, and ROBINSON, JJ.

OPINION

Justice ROBINSON for the Court.

On April 5, 2000, Stephen Reise, pled nolo contendere to two counts of driving while intoxicated, death resulting, and three counts of driving while intoxicated, serious bodily injury resulting. He received a sentence of fourteen years imprisonment on each of the two counts of driving while intoxicated, death resulting, said sentences to be served concurrently. Mr. Reise also received, on each count of driving while intoxicated, serious bodily injury resulting, a sentence of five years suspended imprisonment, with five years of probation, to run consecutively to the sentences on the other counts. In addition, his sentence included a five-year loss of his driver's license.

Mr. Reise has appealed to this Court, contending that the trial justice erred in denying his application for postconviction relief based on newly discovered evidence—viz., that he suffered from Obstructive Sleep Apnea at the time of the incident that resulted in the above-referenced criminal charges being filed. Mr. Reise also points to numerous alleged violations of his rights, including ineffective assistance of counsel.

This case came before this Court on December 12, 2006, pursuant to an order directing the parties to appear and show cause why the issues raised in the appeal should not be summarily decided. Having considered the record, the memoranda filed by the parties, and the oral arguments, we are of the opinion that cause has not been shown and that this case should be decided without further briefing or argument. For the reasons set forth herein, we deny the appeal and affirm the judgment of the Superior Court.

Facts and Travel

Mr. Reise was charged with two counts of driving while intoxicated, death resulting, and three counts of driving while intoxicated, serious bodily injury resulting. He pled nolo contendere on April 5, 2000. We set forth below the most significant facts that the state indicated it would prove if the case had gone to trial.

During the early evening hours of October 29, 1999, Mr. Reise consumed multiple alcoholic beverages at three different locations. Thereafter, Mr. Reise, accompanied by two passengers, drove his mother's car, a 1986 Toyota, northbound on Route 4 towards Providence. According to the evidence outlined by the prosecution in connection with Mr. Reise's nolo plea, Mr. Reise was driving above the posted speed limit and was repeatedly changing lanes as he drove north on Route 4. Also traveling northbound on Route 4 that night was Marsha Bowman, who was driving a 1999 Honda vehicle and was accompanied by her daughter Rebecca Bowman and her daughter's friend Kaitlyn DeCubellis.

At approximately 8 p.m., Mr. Reise, while still driving erratically, began searching the floor of the car for cigarettes, thereby taking his eyes off of the road. While doing so, he struck the rear of Marsha Bowman's Honda, causing it to propel over the Route 4 median and land directly in the path of a vehicle being driven southbound on Route 4 by one Robert Sylvestre. The collision between the Honda and Robert Sylvestre's vehicle resulted in the deaths of both Marsha Bowman and Kaitlyn DeCubellis, as well as serious bodily injury to Rebecca Bowman and two other persons.

The state indicated that it would also be able to prove that Mr. Reise's blood alcohol concentration exceeded the legal limit at the time of the collision and that, two hours after the collision, his blood alcohol level still read 0.130—a level well in excess of the legal limit.

At the plea hearing on April 5, 2000, Mr. Reise, after listening to the prosecutor recite the factual scenario summarized above, unequivocally acknowledged that the state had articulated an accurate account of the events that had occurred on the evening of October 29, 1999. Mr. Reise then pled nolo contendere to the charges and received a sentence of fourteen years to serve followed by fifteen years suspended, with probation.

On March 25, 2004, Mr. Reise, appearing pro se, filed an application for postconviction relief based on what he called the newly discovered evidence that he suffered from Obstructive Sleep Apnea at the time of the accident. On October 7, 2004, the state filed a motion to dismiss on the ground that Mr. Reise had failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Arguments were heard on October 22, 2004, and the hearing justice summarily granted the state's motion to dismiss Mr. Reise's application for postconviction relief. An order reflecting this outcome was entered on October 25, 2004, and Mr. Reise filed a notice of appeal on November 5, 2004.

Analysis

I Newly Discovered Evidence

Mr. Reise's main contention on appeal is that the hearing justice erred in denying his application for postconviction relief based on the newly discovered evidence that he suffered from Obstructive Sleep Apnea at the time of the October 29, 1999 incident because the hearing justice misinterpreted Mr. Reise's argument. More specifically, Mr. Reise contends that the hearing justice focused upon whether the newly discovered evidence prevented Mr. Reise from making a voluntary plea, whereas Mr. Reise contends that he had wanted the hearing justice to determine whether the newly discovered evidence "was directly associated with [his] innocence in relation to the crime" of which he had been convicted. Mr. Reise also argues that he was denied of his right to an evidentiary hearing on this issue.

This Court will not overturn a trial justice's findings regarding an application for postconviction relief absent clear error or absent a determination by this Court that the trial justice neglected or misconceived material evidence. State v. Thomas, 794 A.2d 990, 993 (R.I.2002); see also Bleau v. Wall, 808 A.2d 637, 641 (R.I. 2002).

General Laws 1956 § 10-9.1-1(a) provides in relevant part:

"Any person who has been convicted of, or sentenced for, a crime, a violation of law, or a violation of probationary or deferred sentence status and who claims:

"* * *

"(4) That there exists evidence of material facts, not previously presented and heard, that requires vacation of the conviction or sentence in the interest of justice "* * *

"may institute * * * a proceeding [for postconviction relief]."

When conducting the analysis of an application for postconviction relief based on newly discovered evidence, the hearing justice utilizes the same standard used for considering a motion for a new trial due to newly discovered evidence. Brennan v. Vose, 764 A.2d 168, 173 (R.I. 2001). That standard consists of two parts. Bleau, 808 A.2d at 642. The first, or threshold, part consists of a multifaceted requirement in which the applicant must establish that (a) the evidence is newly discovered or available only since trial; (b) the evidence was not discoverable prior to trial despite the exercise of due diligence; (c) the evidence is not merely cumulative or impeaching but rather is material to the issue upon which it is admissible; and (d) the evidence is of a kind which would probably change the verdict at trial. Id.; see also State v. Hazard, 797 A.2d 448, 463-64 (R.I.2002); State v. L'Heureux, 787 A.2d 1202, 1207-08 (R.I. 2002); State v. Gomes, 690 A.2d 310, 321 (R.I.1997); McMaugh v. State, 612 A.2d 725, 731-32 (R.I.1992). If the threshold test has been satisfied, the hearing justice must then determine, in his or her discretion, whether or not the newly discovered evidence is sufficiently credible to warrant relief. Bleau, 808 A.2d at 642; Hazard, 797 A.2d at 464. As we noted in State v. Fontaine, 559 A.2d 622, 624 (R.I.1989), ordinarily this latter determination is, out of necessity, made in the context of an evidentiary hearing.

In this case, a hearing on Mr. Reise's application for postconviction relief was held on October 22, 2004. At that hearing, the justice stated that he had reviewed both the application for postconviction relief and the exchange that occurred in open court in 2000 when Mr. Reise pled nolo contendere in this case. After conducting an analysis of Mr. Reise's argument "in a variety of ways to give [him] every consideration that [could have been] given," the hearing justice concluded that "there is absolutely no basis in law for entertaining the application for post conviction relief."

We are of the opinion that the hearing justice did not commit clear error and did not neglect or misconceive material evidence in denying Mr. Reise's application for postconviction relief. See Thomas, 794 A.2d at 993. It is clear to us that Mr. Reise did not satisfy the criteria that must be met before postconviction relief may be granted. See Bleau, 808 A.2d at 642. Most notably, the fact that Mr. Reise suffered from Obstructive Sleep Apnea at the time of the accident¹ is not the type of evidence that would probably change the verdict at trial. See Bleau, 808 A.2d at 642.

At the time that he pleaded nolo contendere, Mr. Reise admitted (1) that he drank alcoholic beverages before the collision; (2) that his blood alcohol level was 0.130 two hours after the collision; and (3) that his actions were the sole cause of the deaths of Marsha Bowman and Kaitlyn DeCubellis.² Even if Mr. Reise were able to prove (1) that he suffered from Obstructive Sleep Apnea at the time of the collision; (2) that he was unaware of this condition at the time of the collision; and (3) that the condition was not discoverable prior to trial despite due diligence, we are nonetheless unable to perceive how, given his express acknowledgment of the truthfulness of the state's recital of facts, he can prove that this newly discovered evidence would change the verdict....