Firefighter Cleared of Assault, Disorderly Conduct, and Resisting Arrest in Providence RI
Criminal Charges:
Firefighter charged in Rhode Island District Court (6th Division) for:
- Simple Assault and/or Battery, in violation of RIGL § 11-5-3
- Disorderly Conduct, in violation of RIGL § 11-45-1
- Resisting Arrest, in violation of RIGL § 12-7-10
City, County, and Court:
- Providence, Rhode Island
- Providence County
- Rhode Island District Court (6th Division)
Case Overview:
A firefighter and his fellow workers went to a boxing event at the Amica Mutual Pavilion (AMP) in downtown Providence to celebrate the anniversary of when the men graduated from the fire department academy. While at the event, the firefighters were in a seating area that did not match their tickets. However, the seats remained empty and apparently were unsold for the evening. Members of the Providence Police approached the firemen in a very aggressive and heavy-handed manner. One of the police officers knocked one the firefighters to the ground. This prompted the man to react in his defense by raising his voice and physically resisting any further aggression by police. His co-workers witnessed the entire incident. Despite their best efforts to amicably resolve the situation with a police supervisor, this firefighter was arrested and charged in Rhode Island District Court (6th Division) with Simple Assault on the officer, Disorderly Conduct, and Resisting Arrest. He immediately hired Rhode Island Criminal Defense Lawyer, John L. Calcagni III, to defend him in this matter.
Case Result: Motion to Dismiss Granted.
Attorney Calcagni first caused a subpoena to be issued to the AMP seeking surveillance footage from that evening, which covered the encounter between the police and firemen. Curiously, the AMP responded that it had no video footage. Next, Attorney Calcagni filed discovery requests and a motion to compel discovery to produce video footage from the officers’ body worn cameras (BWC) from that evening. Despite multiple court appearances to address this issue, and a court order for the production of the BWC footage, Providence Police never disclosed this evidence. After the passage of time, Attorney Calcagni successfully moved the Court to dismiss this case based on the City’s failure to comply with its discovery obligation regarding the disclosure of this important evidence.