State v. Robert P. Barboza

Syllabus

The defendant, Robert P. Barboza, appealed from his conviction in Superior Court for second-degree child molestation sexual assault, in violation of G.L. 1956 § 11-37-8.3. The defendant also was tried for three other counts of first-degree child molestation sexual assault the jury found him not guilty on those counts. On appeal, defendant asserted that the trial justice erred in denying his motion for a mistrial based on testimony that he alleged was highly prejudicial and violated a pretrial order. The Supreme Court concluded that the Superior Court did not err in denying defendant's motion to pass the case because the trial justice properly weighed the potential impact of the statements from the complaining witness, and there was nothing in the record suggesting that the jurors could have been so inflamed such that they would be unable to examine the evidence in a calm and dispassionate manner. The Supreme Court also noted that the jurors returned a guilty verdict on only the second-degree count, indicating that the jurors were able to fairly evaluate the evidence without undue prejudice. Accordingly, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Superior Court.