Providence
County Family Court, (04-2556-4) Kathleen A. Voccola
Associate Justice
For
Petitioner: Jane M. McSoley Department of Attorney General.
For
Respondent: Angela M. Yingling Office of the Public Defender
Mark Hirschboeck Rule 9 Student Attorney.
Present: Suttell, C.J., Goldberg, Flaherty, Robinson, and
Indeglia, JJ.
OPINION
William P. Robinson III Associate Justice.
The
juvenile respondent, Joseph C., appeals from a May 22, 2015
judgment of the Family Court finding him delinquent for
committing first-degree robbery as well as conspiracy to
commit robbery. This case came before the Supreme Court
pursuant to an order directing the parties to appear and show
cause why the issues raised in this appeal should not be
summarily decided. After a close review of the record and
careful consideration of the parties' arguments (both
written and oral), we are satisfied that cause has not been
shown and that this appeal may be decided at this time. For
the reasons set forth in this opinion, we affirm the judgment
of the Family Court.
I
Facts and Travel
On
March 2, 2015, the Providence Police Department filed two
delinquency petitions in the Family Court against respondent,
alleging that he had committed two offenses that, if
committed by an adult, would constitute the felony offenses
of first-degree robbery, in violation of G.L. 1956 §
11-39-1, and conspiracy to commit robbery, in violation of
G.L. 1956 § 11-1-6. A trial was held before a justice of
the Family Court on May 21 and 22, 2015. We summarize below
the salient aspects of what transpired at that trial.
A
The Testimony of Officer Juan Rodrigues
Officer
Juan Rodrigues was the first witness to testify. He stated
that, on March 1, 2015, he was working as a patrol officer in
Providence and that, at approximately 7:00 p.m. on that date,
he was dispatched to a reported armed robbery at a business
that was both a gas station and a convenience store located
at the corner of Manton Avenue and Sheridan Street in
Providence (the Manton Avenue store). Officer Rodrigues
testified that he and his partner responded first to the
Manton Avenue store and then left to search for suspects
along the bicycle path at the end of Sheridan Street, which
path he entered on foot. He further testified that, while
walking on the bicycle path, he was approached by a male, who
was detained and searched. Officer Rodrigues further stated
that he did not find any weapons on the suspect's person,
but he said that he followed the tracks of the suspect's
footprints in the snow (a blizzard then being in progress) to
a point off the path, where the officer located a BB gun,
gloves, and a ski mask approximately twenty feet from where
the suspect was apprehended.
B
The Testimony of Officer Miguel Mena-Torres
Officer
Miguel Mena-Torres testified next. He stated that, at
approximately 7:00 p.m. on March 1, 2015, he was on duty as a
patrol officer in Providence when he received a call about a
robbery "at gun point;" he said that he responded
to the scene of the reported robbery by driving to Glenbridge
Avenue in Providence, near a bicycle path. He testified that,
as he approached the bicycle path on foot, he saw two people
running up a hill, one of whom would later identify himself
as D.M.[1] Officer Mena-Torres stated that, after
briefly giving chase, he ordered D.M. to "get down on
the ground" and that D.M. complied. The officer
testified that he then searched D.M. and found in his
possession a BB gun and $36.00 in one dollar bills.
C
The Testimony of Detective Robert Melaragno
Detective
Robert Melaragno testified that, at around 7:15 p.m. on March
1, 2015, he "monitored a call" about a robbery at
the Manton Avenue store. He stated that he responded to the
store and spoke with Mamuad Bekra[2]-the store clerk on duty at
the time of the reported robbery; the detective added that,
while at the store, he watched a portion of the store's
video surveillance footage.[3]
Detective
Melaragno further testified that he returned to the police
station from the Manton Avenue store and
interviewed[4] respondent who, in the presence of his
mother, confessed to committing two acts which, if committed
by an adult, would constitute the offenses of first-degree
robbery and conspiracy. The detective added that respondent
admitted that he had called a friend, one K.J., between 6:00
and 7:00 p.m. on the evening in question and that, in the
detective's words, respondent and K.J. "discussed
committing the robbery." It was Det. Melaragno's
further testimony that respondent said that he had gone to
K.J.'s house and that, "when he arrived there[, ]
[D.M.] was also at [K.J.]'s house" and the three
individuals "discussed committing the robbery."
Detective Melaragno testified that respondent explained that
the two BB guns used during the robbery "came from"
two different neighbors and that the three individuals who
had met at K.J.'s house went by cab to the Manton Avenue
store. He testified that respondent stated that, when the cab
arrived at the store, D.M. and K.J. "entered the store
before [respondent]" carrying the BB guns and that D.M.
and K.J. "told the [store] clerk to get on the floor and
open the register." Detective Melaragno added that
respondent explained that he then "went around the
counter" and "emptied the cash out of the
register" and that the three individuals "fled from
the store" and headed towards Merino Park, near the
bicycle path. The detective stated that respondent admitted
to dropping the BB gun, a pair of gloves, and a ski mask in
the snow as the police approached. At trial, Det. Melaragno
identified the BB gun, ski mask, and gloves which were
recovered by Officer Rodrigues on the night of the robbery.
Detective
Melaragno further stated that, during his interview of
respondent, he showed him two photographs and that respondent
identified the individuals depicted in those photographs as
K.J. and D.M. and acknowledged that both of them had
"accompanied him in the robbery." The recording of
Det. ...