Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

James F. Patterson, a former data entry operator in Providence District Court who was charged 15 months ago with illegally throwing away the contents of court files, has been acquitted after a three-day trial.

After four hours of deliberation Wednesday, a Superior Court jury acquitted Patterson of two criminal counts: Obstruction of the judicial system and vandalism,
according to the office of Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch and defense lawyer Robert J. Healey Jr.

The documents at issue fell into two categories: records of certain unsuccessful attempted garnishments in debt collection cases and records in other kinds of cases.

He took the witness stand in his own defense to say that in the first instance, he was trained by someone to toss the garnishment records and had never been told otherwise by colleagues or supervisors.

He also acknowledged having disposed of documents in case files such as notices of depositions and interrogatories that he said he thought were superfluous. He testified that he got rid of documents in the latter category in accordance with a paperwork reduction order by the court system.

The prosecution said he had overstepped his bounds in both categories.
The verdict "restored my faith in the jury system immensely," Healey said today.
Patterson was fired at the time co-workers learned of his activities.

 Tags  Patrick Lynch Providence Superior Court

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