State v. Matthew Peckham

Syllabus

The defendant, Matthew Peckham (defendant), appealed from a judgment of conviction following a jury trial at which he was found guilty of three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon (counts 1-3); conspiracy to commit assault with a dangerous weapon (count 4); drive-by shooting (count 12); and conspiracy to commit a drive-by shooting (count 13). Before this Court, the defendant argued that (1) the trial justice abused her discretion in not admitting the juvenile record of a witness at trial; (2) the trial justice abused her discretion in improperly admitting hearsay evidence; (3) the trial justice erred in denying his motion for a new trial; and (4) the trial justice erred in denying his motion for a judgment of acquittal. The Supreme Court determined that, at best, the trial justice's decision to sustain the state's objection to the defendant's inquiry into the dismissal of a witness's juvenile charges was harmless error. The Supreme Court further determined that the trial justice did not abuse her discretion in admitting what the defendant purported to be hearsay evidence because such evidence was not hearsay. Finally, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial justice's decisions to deny the defendant's motions for a new trial and for a judgment of acquittal. Therefore, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of conviction.