The Rhode Island Supreme Court will hold its final day of oral argument for term ’17-’18 on Wednesday, May 9 at 9:30 a.m. For all you appellate aficionados out there, it’s your last chance to watch the Supreme Court in action for a while. If history is any guide, the Supreme Court won’t hold another oral argument until after the start of term ’18-’19, most likely in late September or early October of this year.
The Rhode Island Supreme Court is a lot like the United States Supreme Court. Both courts tend to hold oral arguments when wearing seersuckers is not in fashion (generally speaking, after Labor Day and before Memorial Day). Similar to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Rhode Island Supreme Court starts its new term each year in the Fall, hears a bunch of appeals throughout the year (click here for the calendar of hearing dates for the full term that the Rhode Island Supreme Court posted back in September 2017), and then conducts its final oral argument in the late Spring. The United States Supreme Court held its final oral argument this year on April 25.
For both the Rhode Island Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court, after holding the final oral argument in the Spring, the Justices usually wrap up publishing their opinions in the Summer. For the past few years, the Rhode Island Supreme Court published its last opinion for the term on July 2 (’12-’13 term), July 10 (’13-’14 term), June 18 (’14-’15 term), July 15 (’15-’16 term), and June 27 (’16-’17 term).
What does each new term bring? Lots of new new cases, and lots of new law clerks! Many of the law clerks that work for the individual Justices of the Rhode Island Supreme Court are appointed to one-year terms. Law clerks are usually recent law school graduates, and they typically assist the Justices in preparing for oral argument, researching legal issues, and drafting opinions. For the law clerks appointed for the ’17-’18 term, the May 9 hearing is their oral argument swan song, until perhaps one day they return to the Rhode Island Supreme Court and present an oral argument themselves.
The cases on the docket for May 9 consist of two “full argument” cases and three “show cause cases.” RICourtBlog has previously explained the differences between full argument and show cause cases at this link.
The full argument cases on for the May 9 oral argument are:
- State of Rhode Island v. Michael Patino, SU-2016-0352: appeal of second-degree murder conviction.
- The issues on appeal relate to jury instructions on second-degree murder and causation, and the admission of evidence for an incident 10 months before the death of an alleged victim.
- Rhode Island Resource Recovery v. Restivo Monacelli LLP, SU-2016-0140: appeal of professional malpractice jury verdict.
- The issues include challenges to denial of dismissal based on lack of evidence at trial, jury instructions on causation and negligence, and setting off settlement amounts from damages.
The show cause cases on for May 9 are:
- Charles Kemp v. Rite Aid, SU-2017-0043, -0050: consolidated appeals on a trip and fall in a parking lot.
- The person injured is appealing grant of a partial summary judgment motion and the jury verdict at trial.
- Issues on summary judgment include indemnification and who owed the plaintiff a duty of care based on the lease documents between the property owner and the retail store.
- The issues from trial are a motion in limine (a motion to exclude evidence) on photographs of the scene and denial of a new trial.
- Sean McKenna v. William Guglietta, SU-2017-0112: constitutional challenge to the Traffic Tribunal’s power to levy fines.
- Appeal issues include the propriety of entry of a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, and whether the appellant preserved an issue for appeal before the lower court by not raising the constitutional attack before the Traffic Tribunal.
- Epic Enterprises, LLC v. The Bard Group, LLC, SU-2017-0334: Appeal of summary judgment in a condo dispute over restaurants as a permitted use.
- Issues include the interpretation of the Rhode Island condominium statute, and whether unanimous consent is required to amend a condo declaration.
These case descriptions are gleaned from publicly-available documents on the Rhode Island Supreme Court’s docket.
The Rhode Island Supreme Court hears oral argument in its courtroom on the Seventh Floor of the Licht Judicial Complex, located at 250 Benefit Street in Providence (directions here).
Oral arguments are fascinating to watch for the high stakes of the proceedings, the questions from the bench, the arguments of the attorneys, and the dynamics between the Justices. Catch’em while you can.