Opinion ID: 2196814
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Collateral Estoppel Claim

Text: Godette first asserts that the doctrine of collateral estoppel precludes the state from relitigating an issue that had been necessarily decided in his earlier violation hearing. We preface our analysis of the matter by noting that we have jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to Abney v. United States, 431 U.S. 651, 97 S.Ct. 2034, 52 L.Ed.2d 651 (1977). Ordinarily a denial of a motion to dismiss a criminal action is not a final judgment from which an appeal may be taken. However, when the motion to dismiss is based upon double-jeopardy and collateral-estoppel grounds, we allow an immediate appeal. State v. Wiggs, 635 A.2d 272, 275 (R.I.1993). It is well settled that for the doctrine of collateral estoppel to apply to a subsequent proceeding, three key requirements must be demonstrated. For a party to be collaterally estopped from relitigating an issue, [t]here must be an identity of issues[,] the prior proceeding must have resulted in a final judgment on the merits[,] and the party against whom collateral estoppel is sought must be the same asor in privity with a party in the prior proceeding. Taylor v. Delta Electro Power, Inc., 741 A.2d 265, 267 (R.I.1999) (quoting Garganta v. Mobile Village, Inc., 730 A.2d 1, 4 (R.I.1999)). Although we recognize the applicability of the doctrine of collateral estoppel in a Rule 32(f) proceeding, State v. Chase, 588 A.2d 120, 122-23 (R.I.1991), in this case we believe that the defendant has not demonstrated that the identity of issues exists pursuant to Garganta, and thus collateral estoppel may not be invoked. Under an identity-of-issues analysis, three additional factors must be considered: first, the issue sought to be precluded must be identical to the issue decided in the prior proceeding; second, the issue must actually have been litigated; and third, the issue must necessarily have been decided. Hie, 688 A.2d at 285 (quoting Chase, 588 A.2d at 123). We note from the record before us that the hearing justice, during the motion to dismiss, specifically found that: [b]y confining the violation hearing to the question of whether the defendant operated a motor vehicle without the owner's consent and by expressly refusing to allow the violation to be expanded and to be based on an allegation of possession of the stolen motor vehicle, the Court could not have decided and in fact did not decide the issue in this case pending trial; namely, whether the defendant had possession of a vehicle, which he knew or had reason to believe was stolen or unlawfully taken. We are of the opinion that during the violation hearing, the trial justice correctly limited her inquiry and determination to the original § 31-9-1 charge, and consequently we believe there can be no identity of issues between the two proceedings. Heeding the United States Supreme Court's observation that collateral estoppel in criminal cases is not to be applied with the hypertechnical and archaic approach of a 19th century pleading book, but with realism and rationality, Hie, 688 A.2d at 284-85 (quoting Ashe v. Swenson, 397 U.S. 436, 444, 90 S.Ct. 1189, 1194, 25 L.Ed.2d 469, 475 (1970)), we suffice to say that Godette's first violation hearing pursuant to the original Rule 32(f) charge simply turned on the state's ability to demonstrate that Godette operated the van without the consent ofits owner, with the intent to deprive the owner of possession, at least temporarily. The hearing record reveals that because the state could not demonstrate that Godette actually drove the van, the violation was dismissed. The issue in the second proceeding, however, involved litigation of proof that Godette had possession of a motor vehicle that he knew or had reason to know was stolen or unlawfully taken. In sum, because we discern absolutely no identity in the issues between the two proceedings, we conclude that the defendant's collateral estoppel contention is without merit.