Discovery

Defendant appealed the decision of the trial judge sustaining the violation of R.I.G.L. 1956 § 31-27-2.1 (refusal to submit to chemical test). Defendant argued that the violation should be dismissed because the police did not send a supplemental discovery package, which included the incident report of a witness who observed the defendant, until three weeks after the trial. The Court held that the defendant was not prejudiced because he had not submitted a discovery request, there was no ongoing discovery, and he did not make a motion for discovery. Moreover, the police did not possess the incident report or have knowledge of the information contained within it because the witness did not submit the report to the police until after the trial. Accordingly, the Court held that neither the state nor the police failed to comply with a discovery order. Thus, the Court sustained the violation.Town of Portsmouth v. Jesse Faria, C.A. No. T09-0068 (July 1, 2009).pdf