Court ruling halts child murder case

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI)  A Rhode Island Supreme Court decision will keep a man accused of beating a child to death locked up and delay the next step in a case already jolted by what a Superior Court judge called a ‘tsunami of illegal evidence’.

6 year old Marco Nieves died on October 4, 2009 and his mother’s boyfriend Michael Patino was arrested, charged and locked up without bail, accused of beating the child the night before he died. The key evidence at the time was pulled from Patino’s cell phone by Cranston police.

The Supreme Court denied the defense petition to release Patino on bail and also ruled that a Franks hearing on how the evidence was gathered should not happen before the appeals process is resolved.

“It is the position of the State that the trial justice’s suppression order made findings which would be applicable in a Franks hearing,” the ruling reads in part."And that therefore further proceedings should be stayed pending resolution of the State's appeal by this Court."

Earlier this month, Superior Court Judge Judith Savage ruled Patino had a reasonable expectation of privacy and that the text messages were gathered illegally by police. The 190 page decision was appealed by prosecutors.

Patino’s attorney David Cooper tells Target 12 he respects the high court’s decision but believes a Franks hearing could’ve proceeded during the appeals process without harming the case.

“When you work on the appeal and come back to the case, a year or even 18 months later, it's like starting from the beginning,” Cooper said after breaking the news to his client at the ACI Intake Center. “He’s a little depressed but he understands.”

Patino has been behind bars for almost 3 years and could end up incarcerated for 4 years or longer before his case ever sees a court room again.

The text messages were part of a heated conversation between Patino and Nieves’ mother Trisha Oliver. One of the many texts that a jury may never see was sent by Patino after Oliver texted that Nieves was throwing up and in pain.

"I punch dat lil ***** 3 times.Da hardest,” Patino texted. “1 was on his stomach cuz he moved. But let him b a man and not a lil ***** like u."

Read More About The Excluded Evidence

Cooper tells Target 12, that and the other texts are part of an angry adult conversation and do not show intent. But he still wants the evidence excluded on the grounds it was gathered illegally and used to coerce a confession out of his client

He believes Nieves' death is a tragic accident.  

“The girl friend (Oliver) says they were all in the bedroom, jumping on the bed, horse playing,” Cooper says. “Even the doctors have said that had the kid been taken to the hospital that he'd be alive today and that's the tragic part of this whole case.”

Justice Francis Flaherty, serving at the Duty Justice made the decision but conferred with the other members of the Supreme Court. Justice Gilbert Indeglia was the only one who dissented, suggesting the appeal could be delayed to ‘conduct the second step’ and ‘determine whether a Franks hearing is warranted’.

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