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| R.I. attorney general changes strategy in Facebook case |
| By projo.com - John Hill |
| Published: 07/06/2011 |
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PROVIDENCE — Former Corrections Officer Matthew S. LaCroix went into District Court Tuesday expecting the first day of his trial on a charge of posting false information about his boss on the Internet. Instead, the state announced it was dismissing that charge so LaCroix could be tried later on a different charge, impersonating a public officer. The last-minute switch infuriated LaCroix’s lawyer, John R. Grasso, who, when presented notification of the new charge, told District Court Judge J. Terrence Houlihan, “I need a minute to blow a gasket.” Grasso ripped the state’s decision, saying it was a desperate move that signaled the state knew it had no case in prosecuting his client for what Grasso called a harmless Internet satire. He also complained that the state could have told his client of the plan to dismiss sooner, so LaCroix wouldn’t have had to pay for a defense against the first charge that he wound up not needing. The dismissal might be unfair, Houlihan said, but it was legal. He also said Grasso’s efforts weren’t wasted, crediting the First Amendment defense Grasso filed against the false information charge as the reason for the state’s dismissal. Special Assistant Attorney General K. C. Brody told Houlihan that she had worked on the case through the holiday and decided Tuesday morning to change the charge. “The state’s dismissal is based on your hard work,” Houlihan told Grasso. “They don’t want to defend it.” Read More. |
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