Opinion ID: 2107127
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 18

Heading: Admissibility of Post-Robbery Evidence

Text: The defendant also argues that the trial justice erred in admitting evidence about the postrobbery flight of William and Elaine to various locations in Massachusetts and about the assistance that Patty Diefenderfer and Michael Sparfven provided to them during that flight. [34] The defendant argues that the crime of conspiracy to commit a criminal offense does not include subsequent actions taken to conceal said conspiracy and that, therefore, the evidence about the flight should have been deemed irrelevant (pursuant to Rules 401 and 402 of the Rhode Island Rules of Evidence) and inadmissible at his trial since he played no role in those particular activities. The prosecutor first introduced evidence of the post-robbery activities of Elaine and William during his direct examination of Elaine. It is important to note that, although now on appeal it is defendant's contention that the admission of testimony pertaining to the post-robbery flight of William and Elaine should have been barred as being irrelevant, at trial, defense counsel did not object to the prosecution's questioning of Elaine about the post-robbery activities for quite some time. Elaine testified without objection that, after the robberies, she and William traveled by train to South Station in Boston. She testified that they then took a taxi from South Station and stayed in a hotel in Newton, Massachusetts. She further testified that she and William stayed in that hotel in Newton for a couple of days until they decided to go to the Dorchester area of Boston, where they stayed in another hotel and visited Elaine's grandmother. Defense counsel did not object to this testimony. Defense counsel did not voice an objection to this line of questioning until the point in Elaine's testimony when she stated that she and William were told by Mr. Sparfven to travel from the Dorchester area of Boston to Attleboro, Massachusetts. At that point, counsel invoked only the rule against hearsay; he made no objection on the ground that the subject testimony was irrelevant. As we indicated in an earlier section of this opinion, under our raise-or-waive rule this Court will not consider issues at the appellate level which were not properly raised before the trial court. Palmer, 962 A.2d at 766; see also Merida, 960 A.2d at 236; Forand, 958 A.2d at 141. Accordingly, we conclude that defendant has waived the issue of whether or not this latter portion of Elaine's testimony was properly admitted into evidence.