City of Warwick v. Adams

Summary

The Rhode Island Supreme Court addressed whether a misdemeanor defendant could withdraw a jury-trial waiver executed during an initial appearance before a bail commissioner. The court held that the defendant had a unilateral right to withdraw the waiver within ten days of the initial appearance before the District Court, and that the absence of counsel before the bail commissioner constituted good cause for withdrawal after that period. The court upheld the validity of the bail-commissioner proceedings but quashed inconsistent orders and remanded the matter to the District Court.

Holdings

1. A bail commissioner's misdemeanor proceeding in which the commissioner accepts only a not-guilty plea is authorized by G.L. 1956 § 12-10-2(b) and is not invalid, but it is not an arraignment conducted in open court within the meaning of District Court Rule 10.
2. A defendant has the unilateral right to withdraw a jury-trial waiver at any time before expiration of the ten-day period beginning with the defendant's initial appearance before the District Court or a judge of that court; the ten-day period does not begin with the initial appearance before a bail commissioner.
3. The absence of counsel during the initial jury-trial waiver proceeding before a bail commissioner constitutes good cause under Rule 23 for withdrawing the waiver after the ten-day period.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the bail commissioner proceedings were invalid because the commissioner conducted a proceeding characterized as a special arraignment outside open court.
2. Whether a misdemeanor defendant has a unilateral right to withdraw a jury-trial waiver within ten days of the defendant's initial appearance before the District Court or a judge of that court.
3. Whether the absence of counsel during a jury-trial waiver proceeding before a bail commissioner constitutes good cause to withdraw the waiver after the ten-day period under District Court Rule of Criminal Procedure 23.
4. Whether the statute authorizing bail commissioners to accept not-guilty pleas in misdemeanor cases conflicted with the District Court Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Disposition

quashed