Opinion ID: 1996268
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 27

Heading: This Court's Power to Fashion a More Equitable Remedy

Text: Finally, if reversal of the trial justice were warranted in this case, which I strongly believe it is not, it is my view that this Court should exercise its inherent power to devise a more equitable remedy. Given the length of delay in the adjudication of this matter and the improper conduct that was engaged in by certain CRMC members during the first proceeding, I believe it would be an injustice to instruct the trial justice to remand the matter back to the CRMC to place evidence of the Goulet plan on the record. Given this Court's legal and equitable power to fashion an appropriate remedy, I would instead remand this matter to the trial justice so that she could hold a hearing for the limited purpose of considering the Goulet plan, and to allow the parties the opportunity to be heard with respect to the plan. See Moore v. Ballard, 914 A.2d 487, 489 (R.I.2007) (recognizing this Court has the inherent power to fashion an appropriate remedy that would serve the ends of justice) (quoting Vincent v. Musone, 574 A.2d 1234, 1235 (R.I.1990)). Once the record has been completed, the trial justice should be the final arbiter on the expansion that Champlin's has proposed because this Court has recognized that such consideration by the Superior Court is a continuation of the administrative process. See Ratcliffe, 584 A.2d at 1111 (granting petitioners' application without remand to CRMC based on CRMC's failure to comply with RIAPA and extreme delay); Sakonnet, 536 A.2d at 897 (affirming trial justice's remedy to reverse CRMC decision and grant petitioner's application based on improper agency procedure and delay); see also § 42-35-15(g). I believe that in this particular case the trial justice is best suited to render a just and expeditious decision given her extensive knowledge of the administrative and court record. At present, the CRMC consists of three new members who, on remand, would have to read the transcripts of the twenty-three subcommittee hearings held over a period of two years. In addition to that massive undertaking, it is likely that the testimony and cross-examination concerning the Goulet plan could be drawn out for years to come and cause the earlier subcommittee hearings to be reopened, creating further financial burdens on all parties in what has now evolved into a seven-year battle. With respect to my colleagues' concerns that a remand to the trial justice for consideration of the Goulet plan would deny the interested parties their right to appeal, I would note that those parties would have an avenue to review the trial justice's decision through a petition for writ of certiorari to this Court. A remand to the trial justice would allow the interested parties and intervenors an opportunity to examine the evidence in support of the Goulet plan, which is, ironically, an opportunity which they were denied during the initial proceeding. [48] In essence, the trial justice would simply be replacing the CRMC for the purposes of considering the Goulet plan. Upon entry of final judgment by the trial justice, the aggrieved party would then, if it so desired, be able to seek review of the trial court's decision to this Court through a petition for writ of certiorari. In consideration of the patently unfair nature of the initial CRMC proceedings and this Court's power to fashion an appropriate remedy in the interests of justice, the Superior Court would be the proper forum to adjudicate this matter both fairly and expeditiously. I therefore dissent from the majority's decision to reverse the trial justice's decision and the majority's decision to remand the matter back to the CRMC.