Opinion ID: 1990329
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Waiver Contention

Text: Before addressing the substantive issue, we must first address the prosecution's contention that defendant's argument with respect to the prior inconsistent statements has been waived. The state points out that, when defense counsel moved for a judgment of acquittal, [6] he failed to present to the trial justice the argument that prior inconsistent statements are insufficient as a matter of law to sustain a criminal conviction. Accordingly, the prosecution argues that defendant has waived that argument for the purposes of his motion for a new trial as well as on appeal to this Court. We disagree. Although defense counsel did not explicitly point to the language in the Advisory Notes with respect to prior inconsistent statements when he argued in favor of acquittal, he certainly challenged the sufficiency of the evidence at that time. Defense counsel pointed to the fact that there was no evidence at trial, other than the prior inconsistent statements of the alleged victims, that defendant had assaulted either alleged victim with a bottle. Defense counsel made it clear to the trial justice that his motion for a judgment of acquittal was based on the insufficiency of the evidence. During the hearing on the motion for a new trial, rather than asserting a new and independent legal argument, defense counsel simply provided further legal support for his earlier contention that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction. We conclude that, in the course of making his motion for a judgment of acquittal, defense counsel adequately outlined for the trial justice the essence of his argument with respect to the insufficiency of the evidence. In our judgment, he has preserved the issue for appeal. Accordingly, we now proceed to address the issue of whether or not there was sufficient evidence to sustain a conviction of felony assault.