State v. Sparks, 95-150-C

• Citation: 667 A.2d 1250
• Decision Date: 14 December 1995
• Docket Number: No. 95-150-C,95-150-C
• Parties: STATE v. Lowell A. SPARKS, Jr. A.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Rhode Island

Page 1250

667 A.2d 1250

STATE v. Lowell A. SPARKS, Jr.

No. 95-150-C.A.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

Dec. 14, 1995.

Aaron Weisman, Asst. Atty. General, for Plaintiff.

Catherine Gibran, Paula Rosin, Asst. Public Defenders, for Defendant.

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

This matter came before the Supreme Court on November 7, 1995, pursuant to an order directing the defendant, Lowell A. Sparks, Jr., to appear and show cause why the issues raised in this appeal should not be summarily decided. The defendant appeals from an adjudication of probation violation. The violation was based upon a criminal charge that the defendant had committed an assault and battery. After reviewing the memoranda submitted by the parties and after hearing their counsel in oral argument, we are of the opinion that cause has not been shown and that the issues raised by this appeal will be decided at this time.

The violation hearing was held before a justice of the Superior Court. The principal witness at the hearing testified that defendant is and has been her boyfriend for the past six years. She testified that on July 23, 1994, defendant was living with her and her seventeen-year-old daughter. She testified that early that evening she called the police because she wanted defendant out of her house because he had been drinking. She and defendant had been arguing for two days. She testified that defendant had not touched her. When the police arrived, she told them that she "just wanted him out of my house." In response, the police stated that she would have to file a report. She then wrote a statement that she had been struck, which she now claims was a lie. She testified that she lied in her statement out of fear of what might happen between her and defendant because of what had happened between them in the past. Specifically, she stated that when they drank, they fought, and in the past she had been injured as a result. She testified that at the time she wrote the statement, she was intoxicated and had only had two hours of sleep. In her statement to police this witness wrote that defendant had opened her daughter's window, started to throw her around, hit her in the ribs, and slapped her in the face. She testified that she later contacted the Public Defender's office and signed an affidavit stating that she wanted to withdraw the complaint.

Another witness was a local police officer who had responded to the woman's call. He testified that the woman told him that defendant had been drinking and that he had pushed, slapped, and punched her. He testified further that she had stated that defendant had left the house, then returned without a key and tried to kick open the door. When defendant could not enter the house through the door, he entered through a window and the officers were called.

The officer testified that he noted nothing unusual about the woman's speech or physical appearance. She did not have any trouble writing her statement, nor did she appear to be under the influence of alcohol. However, he did testify that "she would cry on and off a little bit." He also testified that he spoke to the woman through a "full size window" because the door to the apartment was stuck.

The trial justice reviewed the woman's testimony and concluded that she had not been truthful in giving it. He found that she was doing the best she could in the circumstances to "try and save this guy from jail." The trial justice further stated that he had absolutely no doubt about "the culpability of the defendant when coupled with the cogent, reasonable, and unbellished [sic ] testimony of [the police...