Opinion ID: 2099175
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Procedural Bar and Waiver

Text: Section 12-19.2-5 provides a mechanism whereby a person sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole may have his or her sentence reviewed by this Court. That statute provides as follows: The defendant shall have the right to appeal a sentence of life imprisonment without parole to the [S]upreme [C]ourt of the state in accordance with the applicable rules of court. In considering an appeal of a sentence, the [C]ourt, after review of the transcript of the proceedings below, may, in its discretion, ratify the imposition of the sentence of life imprisonment without parole or may reduce the sentence to life imprisonment. Id. Since the enactment in 1984 of the just-quoted statute concerning appeals from sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, there have been numerous defendants who, invoking said statute, have sought this Court's review of their sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. However, it is noteworthy that, in virtually all [6] of the previous cases decided by this Court in which a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole was challenged, the defendants have raised in their direct appeal their right to § 12-19.2-5 review by this Court. [7] The clear language of § 12-19.2-5 leads us ineluctably to the conclusion that, although one who has been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole has the right to a review by this Court of that sentence in the manner set forth in the statute, such review by no means occurs automatically; rather, the right to such review must be invoked by the defendant in accordance with the applicable rules of [the Supreme Court]. Section 12-19.2-5. Article I, Rule 16(a) of the Supreme Court Rules of Appellate Procedure reads, in pertinent part, as follows: Errors not claimed, questions not raised and points not made ordinarily will be treated as waived and not be considered by the Court. See Stebbins v. Wells, 818 A.2d 711, 720 (R.I.2003) (stating that a party's failure to brief a particular issue on appeal results in a waiver of that issue and that the issue is considered waived both for purposes of the appeal at issue, and throughout any future proceedings after the case is remanded). We therefore conclude that, by not raising § 12-19.2-5 in his prior appeals to this Court, [8] he has waived his right to such review. [9]