Joseph and Anggita Diorio v. Hines Road, LLC

Syllabus

The plaintiffs, Joseph Diorio and Anggita Diorio (the Diorios), appealed from a June 6, 2018 final judgment of the Providence County Superior Court entered pursuant to Rule 54(b) of the Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure. That judgment was in favor of defendants Thomas Hefner, Esq., in his capacity as Solicitor for the Town of Cumberland (Solicitor Hefner) Neil Hall, in his capacity as the Building and Zoning Official for the Town of Cumberland (Building Official Hall) and the Town of Cumberland (the Town) (collectively the Town defendants). The entry of final judgment followed the grant of the Town defendants' motion for summary judgment based on the ground of prosecutorial immunity. On appeal, the Diorios contended that the hearing justice erred in deciding that each of the Town defendants was entitled to prosecutorial immunity. The Supreme Court held that prosecutorial immunity was properly applied to Solicitor Hefner because his functions at issue in the case were prosecutorial in nature. It further held that, as to Building Official Hall, the Town defendants had not met their burden to show that any of the functions performed by Building Official Hall were prosecutorial in nature. As to the Town, the Supreme Court vacated the grant of summary judgment, noting that Counts Two through Five in the complaint were amenable to being abated and dismissed by the trial justice for failure to comply with G.L. 1956 § 45-15-5. Accordingly, the Court affirmed in part and vacated in part the judgment of the Superior Court.