Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

By Edward Fitzpatrick
Journal staff writer

The state Supreme Court today rejected, on technical grounds, an appeal filed on behalf of "gap kids" who were charged as adults during the 130 days when Rhode Island prosecuted 17-year-olds as adults.

In 2007, Governor Carcieri proposed saving money by treating 17-year-olds as adults in criminal matters, and the General Assembly adopted the idea, which was based on the notion that the Adult Correctional Institutions would prove cheaper than the Training School. But the savings proved to be questionable, at best, and the Assembly soon repealed the law. But the repeal was not retroactive, so that created a population of about 500 "gap kids" charged as adults between July 1 and Nov. 8, 2007.

In July, the Supreme Court ruled that those teenagers are entitled to Family Court hearings to determine if they should be tried in adult courts. But while it had broader implications, that ruling technically only applied to Ryan Greenberg, charged in the Barrington boating death of a friend, and to Harold Chartier, a teenager charged with simple assault, a misdemeanor.

Today's ruling dealt with an appeal that the public defender's office filed, under the heading "State v. John Doe," on behalf of "gap kids" that it represented in Superior Court and other "gap kids" who lacked their own lawyers. The public defender sought to dismiss those cases or transfer them to Family Court.

"Although we recognize the seriousness of the issues presented by the short-lived jurisdictional amendment and we commend counsel and the trial justice for their efforts on behalf of juveniles accused of criminal behavior, as well as the expeditious handling of this controversy, we are persuaded that this appeal is not properly before the court," the Supreme Court said in today's order.

"The parties candidly acknowledge that 'John Doe,' who was identified as the aggrieved party in the case, is not a real person. Significantly, the record before us is devoid of any indictment or criminal information upon which the order of dismissal may rest," the court wrote. "Further, a list of names appended to the omnibus motion to dismiss or transfer jurisdiction does not alter the result in this case. Accordingly, the appeal is denied."

Chief public defender John J. Hardiman said the order has no immediate impact on the "gap kids" his office represents because the Supreme Court has already spoke on how such cases should be handled. Many of the teens have already had their cases resolved in Family Court, and others are awaiting hearings to determine if they will be prosecuted in adult courts, he said.

Meanwhile, in the Greenberg case, a trial date of Jan. 26 was set this morning.

 Tags  Ryan Greenberg

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