State v. Diefenderfer
| Decision Date | 08 May 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. 2006-189-C.A.,2006-189-C.A. |
| Citation | 970 A.2d 12 |
| Parties | STATE v. Roy DIEFENDERFER. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
Christopher R. Bush, Department of the Attorney General, for Plaintiff.
Janice M. Weisfeld, Office of the Public Defender, for Defendant.
Present: WILLIAMS, C.J., GOLDBERG, FLAHERTY, SUTTELL, and ROBINSON, JJ.
The legal issues that this appeal requires us to address arise in the context of a criminal plot that is as bizarre as it is troubling. The reader of this opinion may well wish to read it with pencil in hand in order to compose a sort of "cast of characters" that will facilitate an understanding of the plot and of the roles played by those who participated in it.
On May 25, 2005, following an eight-day trial, a Providence County Superior Court jury found defendant, Roy Diefenderfer, guilty of the following felonies: two counts of first-degree robbery, three counts of conspiracy to commit robbery, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of assault on a person over sixty years of age.
On appeal, defendant contends that the trial justice committed reversible error with respect to (1) his denial of defendant's request for a copy of a particular witness immunity order or a transcript of the underlying immunity proceeding; (2) his placing limitations on defense counsel's cross-examination of an alleged co-conspirator; (3) his permitting a witness to testify that he had pled guilty to having committed various crimes with defendant; (4) his admitting evidence of certain events that occurred after the robberies at issue had taken place; (5) his admitting into evidence the cooperation agreement of another witness; and (6) his denial of defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal on the kidnapping counts.
For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we affirm the judgment of the Superior Court.
On April 25, 2002, two robberies took place at 1920 Mineral Spring Avenue in North Providence. At defendant's trial in May of 2005, the victims of the robberies as well as certain of defendant's alleged accomplices testified as to the details of the bizarre scheme that culminated in the April 25 robberies. That scheme involved establishing a fake jewelry store in a shopping plaza and arranging appointments with wholesale jewelry salesmen for the ostensible purpose of stocking the store, with the real purpose being to rob the unsuspecting salesmen upon their arrival. Two of the witnesses for the prosecution were defendant's alleged accomplices, Ms. Elaine Thomas and Mr. William Thomas,2 both of whose testimony we shall now proceed to summarize; thereafter we shall summarize the pertinent testimony of certain other trial witnesses.
Elaine testified at trial that she was involved in the April 25, 2002 robberies along with the following individuals: Roy Diefenderfer (defendant); Patty Diefenderfer (defendant's wife); William Thomas (Patty Diefenderfer's brother); and Michael Sparfven (the uncle of Patty Diefenderfer and William Thomas). She further testified that, in connection with the April 25 robberies, she entered into a cooperation agreement with the state and pled guilty to first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, and larceny of a firearm. During defendant's trial, the prosecution elicited testimony from Elaine with respect to the cooperation agreement, and the agreement itself was read into the record.
Elaine testified at trial that she met defendant's wife, Patty Diefenderfer, through a neighbor and that the two became friends. She further testified that she met William Thomas through Patty (William's sister) and that they began dating in January of 2002. Elaine testified that she met Mr. Sparfven later in 2002, and he asked her whether she wanted to work with William in a boutique jewelry store.
Elaine testified that, after first having leased space for the self-styled jewelry store3 at a location that was later deemed to be unsuitable, she was instructed by Mr. Sparfven to rent space at the 1920 Mineral Spring Avenue location and to do so under the alias "Joyce Silva." She testified that she leased the space at the Mineral Spring Avenue location approximately one month before the robberies.
According to Elaine's trial testimony, at some point in the Spring of 2002 she realized that what was being set up was not a legitimate jewelry store. She testified that, around that same time, Mr. Sparfven outlined for her the scenario of the planned robberies and explained what her role would be with respect to same (viz., to greet the jewelry salesmen when they arrived and then to lead them from the front of the store to a back room). She further testified that, during that same period, William asked defendant to participate in the robberies, for which participation he was to receive $1,000. Elaine testified that defendant's role in the robberies was to remain in the back room of the jewelry store with William while they awaited the moment when they would "beat up" and rob the jewelry salesmen.
Elaine testified that it was Patty Diefenderfer who gave her the materials that Elaine was to use in dressing in disguise prior to greeting the jewelry salesmen.4 She further testified that, on the day when the planned robberies actually took place (April 25, 2002), she put on her disguise, drove with William to defendant's home, and then left for the jewelry store with defendant after switching into another vehicle. Elaine testified that it was defendant's idea to switch vehicles and take his grandfather's vehicle to the jewelry store.
Elaine testified that the jewelry salesmen were scheduled to arrive at the store between noon and two o'clock in the afternoon of April 25. She further testified that, prior to the time when the jewelry salesmen were scheduled to arrive, she went into the back room where defendant and William were waiting, and she noted that they were wearing baseball hats and had covered their faces with black pantyhose.5
According to Elaine, after the robberies took place she and her cohorts drove, in two separate vehicles, from the jewelry store to Mr. Sparfven's office. She said that, once they arrived there, Mr. Sparfven gave defendant $500; she added that William also received money from Mr. Sparfven. Elaine further testified that she saw William give defendant another $500. Elaine said that, after this meeting, William and defendant drove with her to defendant's house in order to drop off defendant and retrieve William's vehicle.
Elaine next testified that she and William went to Massachusetts after the robberies. She testified that they stayed in various hotels throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and in the Boston area until their arrest on May 23, 2002. Elaine testified that, during that April and May period in which they were staying in various hotels, she and William remained in contact with and received money from Mr. Sparfven, which money was delivered to them by Patty Diefenderfer.
William Thomas testified with reluctance at the trial of defendant, Roy Diefenderfer. At an early point in the prosecutor's questioning, William invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, saying that he refused to testify because he didn't want to "implicate [himself] anymore." After William invoked his privilege against self-incrimination, the prosecutor asked for and was granted a recess so that he could file a petition seeking an immunity hearing before the presiding justice of the Superior Court. An immunity hearing was held the following morning, and the presiding justice granted William immunity with respect to his testimony at defendant's trial, ruling that William's testimony was "necessary and material."6
When defendant's criminal trial resumed, the prosecutor summarized on the record what had occurred at the immunity hearing.7 He stated that the presiding justice, before granting immunity to William, had informed him that, if he failed to answer questions at defendant's trial after being granted immunity, several actions could be taken against him. The prosecutor added that the presiding justice had warned William that, if he failed to answer questions and was found in contempt, such a finding of contempt could be the basis for a ruling that he was in violation of the conditions of his probation and could potentially result in his being ordered to serve additional time on his suspended sentence.8 The prosecutor further reported, and the attorney who represented William at the immunity hearing confirmed, that William had been given an opportunity to consult with his lawyer both privately and in court during the course of the immunity proceedings. William's attorney further explained that the presiding justice had indicated that the "matter could not be used against him in any Rhode Island jurisdiction, any foreign jurisdiction, state or federal."
After the prosecutor had made the above-summarized representations in open court, defendant's attorney requested that he be given in writing "any promises, rewards and inducements, any exculpatory evidence * * * concerning any conversations [which the prosecutor has] had with this potential witness."9 The defendant's attorney further requested the following: (1) a transcript of the immunity hearing proceedings or a signed copy of the immunity agreement; and (2) a written statement from the prosecutor setting forth both the number of times that the prosecutor met with William and the nature of what was said in any such meeting.
In response, the prosecutor orally asserted that there would be no exculpatory evidence relating to defendant in William's proposed testimony. The prosecutor further asserted that the testimony to be elicited from William at defendant's trial would be limited substantively so as to consist solely of the facts surrounding the charges to which William had already pled guilty...
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State v. Rainey
...decision * * *, and it ‘will not disturb that ruling on appeal unless he or she has committed clear error.’ " State v. Diefenderfer , 970 A.2d 12, 23 (R.I. 2009) (quoting State v. McManus , 941 A.2d 222, 229 (R.I. 2008) ). The standard of review in determining whether there has been a Rule ......
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State v. Rainey, 2014-348-M.P.
...decision * * *, and it 'will not disturb that ruling on appeal unless he or she has committed clear error.'" State v. Diefenderfer, 970 A.2d 12, 23 (R.I. 2009) (quoting State v. McManus, 941 A.2d 222, 229 (R.I. 2008)). The standard of review in determining whether there has been a Rule 16 v......
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...sufficiently focused so as to call the trial justice's attention to the basis for said objection * * *." Id. (quoting State v. Diefenderfer , 970 A.2d 12, 30 (R.I. 2009) ). That requirement is grounded, in part, in our rules of evidence, which direct "that a specific ground for an objection......
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