Court Opinion

ID: 9702011
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 22:49:13.313671+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:32.211930
License: Public Domain

Justice FLAHERTY,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent only from that portion of the majority opinion affirming the sentence of life without the possibility of parole, pursuant to G.L.1956 § 12-19.2-5. *239There is no doubt that this was a brutal murder for which this defendant justly was convicted of first-degree murder. It also is yet another tragic example of domestic violence that has proven to be a scourge on our society. I have great respect for the trial justice and believe that the sentence she imposed of life without the possibility of parole was well reasoned. I also have high regard for the opinion of the majority with respect to the sentencing in this case; it is equally rational and founded on the record.
But, after undertaking an independent review of the record that § 12-19.2-5 requires me to do, I do not conclude that this case should be included in that “narrow class of the most heinous crimes” for which this most extreme sentence should be reserved. State v. Brown, 898 A.2d 69, 86 (R.I.2006).
Accordingly, I respectfully dissent from the imposition of the sentence of life without the possibility of parole and would reduce the sentence in this case to life imprisonment.