State v. Michael Giard

Citations

• 155 A.3d 1193
• 2017 WL 1103818
• 2017 R.I. LEXIS 34

Syllabus

The defendant, Michael Giard, appealed from an adjudication of a violation of a deferred sentence. On appeal, the defendant contended that \the hearing justice acted arbitrarily and capriciously\ in determining: (1) \that Mr. Giard touched [the complaining witness] inappropriately\ and (2) \that Mr. Giard assaulted [the complaining witness] in reasonable proximity to April of 2010\ because, in the defendant's view, neither determination was supported by the evidence. The defendant further argued that the hearing justice erred in finding the complaining witness's testimony to be credible and in overlooking inconsistencies among the testimonies of the complaining witness and that of her mother and her aunt with respect to when various events took place. The Supreme Court held that the hearing justice did not act arbitrarily or capriciously in assessing the credibility of the witnesses or in adjudicating the defendant to be a violator of his deferred sentence. The Court reasoned that the hearing justice's determinations were based on a plausible foundation. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the Superior Court's judgment.