State v. Brown

• Citation: 900 A.2d 1155
• Decision Date: 23 June 2006
• Docket Number: No. 2004-263-CA.,2004-263-CA.
• Parties: STATE v. Scott BROWN.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Rhode Island

900 A.2d 1155

STATE v. Scott BROWN.

No. 2004-263-CA.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

June 23, 2006.

Virginia M. McGinn, Esq., Providence, for Plaintiff.

Paula Rosin, Esq., Providence, for Defendant.

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

OPINION

Chief Justice WILLIAMS, for the Court.

The defendant, Scott Brown (defendant), was convicted in the Superior Court of one count of felony assault in violation of G.L. 1956 § 11-5-2 and G.L.1956 § 12-29-2 and two counts of simple assault in violation of § 11-5-3 and § 12-29-2. The defendant appeals his convictions, alleging that the trial justice erred when he permitted the state to present evidence of prior uncharged acts of domestic violence perpetrated by defendant against the same complaining witness, Lorene Quaranta (Quaranta). The defendant and Quaranta, who were romantically involved, lived together at the time of all the incidents in question. For the reasons discussed herein, we affirm the judgment of the Superior Court.

I Facts and Travel

The defendant was approximately seventeen years old when he and his family moved to the apartment above Quaranta's in West Warwick. Quaranta testified that her friendship with defendant turned romantic in February 2002, when defendant was eighteen. The defendant eventually moved downstairs to live in Quaranta's apartment with Quaranta and her four children, one of whom had special needs requiring extensive care. For the first few months, their relationship progressed smoothly; Quaranta was happy with defendant, who had built a positive relationship with her four children.

At trial, Quaranta first testified about the history of her relationship with defendant, including two incidents of physical abuse that were not the basis of defendant's criminal charges. After Quaranta and defendant had lived together for a few months, defendant attempted to control her behavior in various ways, including criticizing the way she dressed and the level of care she gave to her disabled son, Jacob.¹ At some point in April 2002, defendant became angry when Jacob returned from school with evidence that he had not been properly cleaned after a diaper change. The defendant accused Quaranta of failing to clean her son, and punched her in the face three times in front of her children. On May 18 of that same year, when Quaranta and defendant were engaged in an argument over defendant's going to a strip club, defendant threw a porcelain unicorn at Quaranta's head, opening a gash that required a trip to the emergency room and "four to six" staples in her head. At the emergency care center, Quaranta told inquirers that she was dusting knickknacks when one of them fell and struck her in the head. Quaranta recalled that two different medical staff members attempted to inquire further about whether defendant, who accompanied her to the emergency care center, had actually been the cause of her injury. Quaranta did not reveal defendant's role at that time. At trial, she explained that she lied to medical staff because she loved defendant and did not want him to get in trouble.

Directly following Quaranta's testimony as to these events, the trial justice, after a bench conference, issued a limiting instruction to the jury regarding the uncharged incidents. After clarifying which incidents were charged and which were not, the trial justice instructed the jury, in pertinent part, as follows:

"Now, I am going to instruct you, ladies and gentlemen, that first of all it is up to you whether or not to believe this testimony, just like any other testimony in whole or in part, or give it any weight whatsoever. But if you do give it some weight or believe it, either in whole or in part, this testimony is not evidence of the fact or proof of the fact that the defendant is likely to have committed the offenses with which he is charged, just because he allegedly committed this prior bad act or this uncharged misconduct, as we refer to it. It is only being offered to you, ladies and gentlemen, under what is called an exception to the rule that you cannot prove somebody's propensity to commit a crime by evidence of prior bad acts, uncharged bad acts. And that is to show, really, that there was a modus operandi, or a plan, or a scheme involving conduct of this defendant, and it is only being offered to you in that regard and for that very limited purpose, and not, again, as testimony or as evidence that the defendant must have committed these acts with which he is charged because he allegedly committed a prior bad act."

Quaranta then proceeded to describe in detail the charged assaults. She testified that on the morning of September 27 2002, after her children had left for school, she planned to leave the house to have notarized a medical form regarding Jacob's condition to ensure that her electricity was not turned off. When Quaranta told defendant what she was going to do, he began arguing with her about the fact that they had other plans. Quaranta said that she had only two days left to get the documentation she needed to prevent the electric company from turning off her service; defendant, in turn, called Quaranta a variety of profane names and then hit her in the face, knocking her to the floor. Quaranta, her nose bleeding, stood up and slapped defendant across the face, which she said was the first time she had hit him, and she did it because she felt she "was done" with the relationship. The defendant grabbed Quaranta's arm and "flipped [her] over him," causing her to hit the refrigerator and cabinets. Quaranta believed her arm had been dislocated. The altercation continued, with defendant following Quaranta around the apartment. At one point, defendant choked Quaranta. When the altercation moved to their bedroom, he struck her with a belt. Quaranta was treated at a hospital for a broken arm; again, she offered medical staff a fictitious cause for her injury.

Quaranta testified about the events giving rise to the other charge. She said that on October 3, 2002, her birthday, she and defendant planned to spend the evening at home together. They ordered a pizza, but when it arrived, defendant hit Quaranta upon discovering that the pizza did not have the deep crust he had requested. The fight continued, with defendant grabbing Quaranta by the throat, dropping her to the floor, and then punching her. Three of Quaranta's children witnessed these events. The defendant then left their apartment. Seeking help moving defendant out of her house, Quaranta went to the home of her neighbor, Holly Robidou. Holly Robidou's husband, James Robidou, went to Quaranta's apartment to watch her children, all four of whom were then at home. Quaranta called 9-1-1 to report that she had been assaulted; while on the phone with the operator, Quaranta heard defendant shouting and cursing outside and realized he had returned.²

Holly Robidou testified briefly that she and her husband were engaged in a group altercation outside Quaranta's house, which began when defendant returned home and threw a cake into the driveway. Quaranta testified that Holly Robidou challenged defendant to strike her instead of Quaranta; when it seemed that he would comply, James Robidou left Quaranta's apartment and inserted himself between defendant and Holly Robidou. Eventually, the police arrived at Quaranta's home in West Warwick and intervened in the argument, which was occurring outdoors.

The defendant testified that he never intended to hurt Quaranta. He stated that Quaranta's injuries resulted variously from "rough sex" and the fact that she was "clumsy." The defendant explained Quaranta's broken arm as the result of defendant's throwing Quaranta off him after she jumped onto his back. He denied injuring her on October 3, stating that Quaranta was angry that he had not bought her a birthday present, and, as a result, he left the apartment to buy her a cake. Upon returning and seeing that Quaranta's daughter, Jessica, was packing defendant's things as if to move him out of the apartment, he became enraged and threw the birthday cake into the driveway.

Donald Archibald (Archibald), a West Warwick patrolman, testified that he was sent to Quaranta's address shortly after 6 p.m. on the night of October 3, 2002. When he arrived, he found a group of people arguing outside the residence: Quaranta, defendant, defendant's brother, and the Robidous. Archibald and two other officers separated the warring factions and spoke with them separately. Archibald observed that Quaranta had "several bruises" on her arms and face that appeared to be a few days old, recent redness around her throat, and a large bandage covering her arm from shoulder to wrist. At this point, Quaranta told Archibald that defendant had broken her arm the week before, and that there had been a physical altercation on the night in question, as well. Archibald then spoke with the Robidous, who confirmed Quaranta's version of the events that had occurred that night prior to the police intervention.

The defendant was arrested and charged by criminal information with one count of felony assault in violation of § 11-5-2 and § 12-29-2, and three counts of simple assault in violation of § 11-5-3 and § 12-29-2. One assault charge stemmed from the events of October 3, 2002; the other three charges all were alleged to have occurred on September 27, 2002.

The state filed a motion in limine seeking to admit evidence of prior acts of domestic violence that defendant had committed against Quaranta. At the hearing on the motion, the state requested permission from the trial justice to present evidence of three separate uncharged incidents, each taking place on a different date in 2002: the incident when defendant struck Quaranta for not properly changing her son's diaper; another incident in which defendant hit Quaranta in the head with a porcelain figurine; and a separate altercation during which defendant kicked...