State v. Grossi
| Decision Date | 28 March 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 90-302-C,90-302-C |
| Citation | 588 A.2d 607 |
| Parties | STATE v. Frank GROSSI. A. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
James E. O'Neil, Atty. Gen., Jane McSoley and Jeffrey Greer, Asst. Atty. Gen., and David Morowitz, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., for plaintiff.
Irving Brodsky, Providence, for defendant.
On March 4, 1991, the defendant, Frank Grossi (Grossi), by his attorney, appeared before this court to show cause why his appeal from his conviction on a variety of offenses and from the trial justice's denial of his motion for a new trial should not be summarily decided. The scene of the alleged crime was the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI). In late February 1990 a Superior Court jury found Grossi guilty on four counts of an indictment that charged him with conspiring with another individual to deliver LSD into the ACI and conspiring with the same individual to deliver LSD to a third inmate who was part of the conspiracy. Another count charged Grossi with illegal possession of a hypodermic needle and syringe. Grossi was acquitted of the charge of possessing LSD.
On appeal Grossi raises three issues. He contends that the trial justice failed to grant him an evidentiary hearing prior to trial. Such a hearing, he argues, would have revealed that the statements made by one Joseph Cimaglia (Cimaglia) did not provide the police with sufficient probable cause for their surveillance and subsequent arrest of Grossi.
In State v. Ricci, 472 A.2d 291, 295 (R.I.1984), this court discussed the "totality of the circumstances" test set forth in Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 238, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 2332, 76 L.Ed.2d 527, 548 (1983), that must be considered when considering the validity of a search warrant and subsequent arrest of a defendant. Here Grossi argues that Cimaglia, a convicted felon, had no prior experience in supplying information to the police but rather had a distinct motive to tell his story. His motive allegedly was the grant of his parole. However, in Ricci this court noted that "[f]irst-time informants can be found to be reliable." Ricci, 472 A.2d at 297. Here Cimaglia has implicated himself in a drug-smuggling scheme. In addition the information he gave regarding Grossi's address, vehicle registration, and phone number was subsequently verified by the police.
Grossi also contends that the trial justice erred in allowing a detective to testify regarding statements made to him by a fellow conspirator at the time of his arrest. When the conspirator was called to the stand, he invoked his Fifth Amendment pr...
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Smith v. State
...v. Payne, Conn.Supr., 219 Conn. 93, 591 A.2d 1246, 1258 (1991); State v. Smith, Me.Supr., 415 A.2d 553, 559 (1980); State v. Grossi, R.I.Supr., 588 A.2d 607, 608 (1991). A statement may be sufficiently reliable if it falls either within a firmly rooted hearsay exception or if it otherwise h......
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State v. Storey, 2009-178-C.A.
...problematic. We previously have established that first-time, anonymous informants are not per se unreliable. State v. Grossi, 588 A.2d 607, 608 (R.I.1991) (citing State v. Ricci, 472 A.2d 291, 297 (R.I.1984)). Additionally, this Court recognizes that a tip with unknown reliability can be co......
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State v. Pacheco
...in refusing to testify concerning the subject matter of his statement despite an order of the court to do so.'" State v. Grossi, 588 A.2d 607, 608 (R.I.1991) (per curiam). Although the statements that defendant made to his coconspirator in Casala's presence may individually not have been in......
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State v. Burgess
...States v. Tyler, 238 F.3d 1036, 1038–39 (8th Cir.2001) (informant identified the defendant as his supplier of drugs); State v. Grossi, 588 A.2d 607, 608 (R.I.1991) (informant implicated himself in a drug-smuggling ring involving the defendant); State v. Germano, 559 A.2d 1031, 1035 (R.I.198......