State v. Clark

• Decision Date: 29 June 2009
• Docket Number: No. 2007-6-C.A.,2007-6-C.A.
• Citation: 974 A.2d 558
• Parties: STATE v. Jeffrey CLARK.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

974 A.2d 558

STATE v. Jeffrey CLARK.

No. 2007-6-C.A.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

June 29, 2009.

Aaron L. Weisman, Department of Attorney General, Providence, for Plaintiff.

John A. MacFadyen, Esq., Providence, for Defendant.

Present: GOLDBERG, Acting C.J., FLAHERTY, SUTTELL, ROBINSON, JJ., and WILLIAMS, C.J. (ret.).

OPINION

Acting Chief Justice GOLDBERG, for the Court.

Justice bows to no man (or woman). The defendant, Jeffrey Clark (Clark or defendant), was an off-duty police officer with the Rhode Island State Police who, a jury concluded, viciously assaulted a defenseless prisoner. This case came before the Supreme Court on March 4, 2009, on the defendant's appeal from a Superior Court judgment of conviction on charges of felony assault, simple assault, and filing a false report of a crime.

At the outset, we pause to express our concern, yet again, with the state's practice, in its drive to convict, of filing broad-based in limine motions to exclude probative evidence in criminal cases. Too often do these motions impact the constitutional safeguards guaranteed to criminal defendants under the state and federal constitutions, leaving this Court with no alternative but to vacate these convictions.¹ We therefore admonish the state to wield its in limine sword carefully, particularly when the prosecution believes it has sufficient additional evidence to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Likewise, when faced with a request by the state in a criminal case to limit or exclude evidence, it is incumbent upon the trial justice to conduct a voir dire hearing or otherwise carefully review the challenged evidence and cautiously exercise his or her discretion, ever mindful of the potential for prejudicial error. Cf. State v. Milliken, 756 A.2d 753, 756 (R.I.2000) ("A request by the state to limit or exclude the presentation of defense witnesses in a criminal trial should be received with caution and carefully reviewed by the trial justice, who, although exercising his or her broad discretion to determine its relevance, is faced with the potential for prejudicial error to the defendant.").

In this case, the state's in limine efforts resulted in a violation of defendant's constitutional right to cross-examination. Because we are unable to conclude that the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, we vacate the judgment of conviction and remand the case to the Superior Court for a new trial.

Facts and Travel

On the night of September 4, 2004, William Skwirz, Jr. (Skwirz) was at his family's home in the West Kingston section of the Town of South Kingstown, where his family was hosting an all-day party for Skwirz's stepbrother, who recently had returned from military service in Iraq.

According to Skwirz, at approximately 1 the next morning, while he was in the driveway exchanging farewells with departing guests, his dog was barking, at which point a voice barked back: "Shut the f* * * up. Stop barking." Accompanied by Patrick Abrams (Abrams) and Sean Lauffer (Lauffer),² Skwirz traced this profanity to the neighboring property, owned by Clark. The defendant was at the top of his driveway yelling expletives about the dog and Skwirz's family. Skwirz testified that he shouted: "What the f* * * is your problem?," and added that "[i]f it's a big deal, I'll throw the dog in the basement."

Skwirz testified that defendant yelled, "[c]ome here for a minute." When Skwirz walked up the driveway, defendant, without uttering a word, punched him in the mouth. Skwirz retaliated with a roundhouse of his own that connected with defendant's temple and knocked him to the ground. As Skwirz began to back up toward the street he asked defendant why he hit him. The defendant rose to his feet and said that Skwirz "f* * *ed up," that he was a punk, and that defendant was "going to kick [his] ass." According to Skwirz, he did not want any trouble and rejoined Abrams and Lauffer in the street.

Skwirz testified that defendant followed him into the street and tried to shake Lauffer's hand, but Lauffer refused and shouted a few expletives of his own. Skwirz then tried to smoke a cigarette; however, defendant slapped him across the face and knocked it out of his mouth. Intending to avoid any further escalation, Skwirz and his friends walked back to his family's home.³ At that point, Skwirz had suffered a contused lip. Unfortunately, the night was not over.

Twenty minutes later, two South Kingstown police cruisers arrived at Skwirz's residence. Skwirz testified that he explained what happened to Officer Robert Costantino (Officer Costantino) and immediately was arrested for simple assault. He was handcuffed behind his back and placed in the back seat of Officer Costantino's cruiser. At that point, the second officer, Sergeant Joyce Comstock (Sergeant Comstock), left the scene.

However, instead of transporting the prisoner to the police station, Officer Costantino pulled his cruiser into defendant's driveway where, according to Skwirz, defendant opened the back door and began to beat him with his fists, repeatedly punching him in the head.⁴ Skwirz, who was "[s]cared for [his] life" and felt blood rushing down his neck, testified that defendant told him: "I'm a trooper and you respect the badge," and he added that he would "pump a bullet in [Skwirz's] head and dump [him] down the road." At one point, Skwirz said, defendant pulled him out of the cruiser and, with Officer Costantino standing by, defendant repeatedly punched him while asking the prisoner if he understood that Clark was a trooper. Skwirz testified that eventually he was returned to the cruiser—he could not recall by whom—and defendant, again, opened the door and struck him. Skwirz recalled crying and begging defendant not to kill him. Immediately after Officer Costantino drove off Clark's property, he pulled over and defendant, for the third time, opened the rear door, assaulted Skwirz, and then wished him a good night.

Thereafter, Officer Costantino drove Skwirz to the police station; he was examined by two emergency medical technicians who determined that Skwirz needed medical attention. Officer Costantino transported Skwirz to South County Hospital, where Skwirz told the doctors that he had fallen and hit his head on a rock. He later explained at trial that he was afraid of the consequences of telling the truth; Skwirz testified that he believed that the South Kingstown police were in collusion with the state police, and that he would be killed if he disclosed what happened. Skwirz had two lacerations on the back of his head—one was three centimeters long and the other was one and one-half centimeters. He received eight staples for his wounds.

Skwirz was then returned to the police station and spoke with Lieutenant Paul Horoho (Lt. Horoho), who asked Skwirz whether he wanted to press charges against defendant. Because he was afraid of police retaliation, Skwirz declined and told Lt. Horoho that defendant had not assaulted him. Officer Costantino issued Skwirz a summons and charged him with simple assault. According to Skwirz, when he spoke with defendant two days later at his family's house, Clark apologized for the assault and told Skwirz that he would compensate him for his medical expenses and drop the criminal charges.

Michael Perlman (Perlman) also testified for the state. Perlman was a friend of Skwirz's stepbrother, Brendan Fletcher, and attended the family party on the night in question. He testified that he was present when the police apprehended Skwirz and saw the cruiser pull into the neighbor's driveway. According to the witness he walked to the tree line that separated the properties and heard a voice yell: "You don't know who you're messing with. I could end your life right now. You don't know what you've done." Perlman also testified that he heard Skwirz scream: "Please don't hurt me." The witness stated that he saw three figures outside the police cruiser, but he could not identify them. Perlman testified that he then went inside the Skwirz residence and told Skwirz's father that his son was in trouble. Perlman eventually fell asleep at the Skwirz residence, but he woke up when Skwirz returned later that morning. The witness testified that Skwirz's clothes were bloody and that he had visible wounds on his head; he also stated that when Skwirz was arrested, he was not in that condition.⁵

Officer Costantino was a witness for the prosecution. He testified that, at about 1:30 a.m., he responded to an assault complaint from defendant. He testified that he asked defendant to prepare a witness statement, went next door and arrested Skwirz, and then returned to defendant's house with Skwirz handcuffed in the back of his cruiser. Officer Costantino explained that he took Skwirz to defendant's home in order to retrieve the witness statement and have defendant identify Skwirz as the assailant. Officer Costantino testified that after he exited his vehicle, he obtained the witness statement from defendant, who then opened the back door to the cruiser and yelled to Skwirz: "You don't come on a trooper's property and assault him feet from a trooper's car." While Officer Costantino was standing in front of his cruiser reading the statement, he saw defendant in the back seat, and the prisoner was rocking back and forth. Officer Costantino testified that after he heard what sounded like punches,⁶ he pulled defendant out of the cruiser and drove out of the driveway.

According to Officer Costantino, defendant followed the cruiser into the street and said that "he wanted to speak with [Skwirz] again," adding that he would not hit him. Despite this assurance, defendant went into the back seat and continued his assault with another round of blows. Officer Costantino pushed defendant away from the cruiser and drove to the police station. The witness confirmed during his trial testimony that Skwirz's injuries were not self-inflicted; he testified that Skwirz...