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Supreme Court No. 2008-103-C.A. (P1/07-1576A)

State v. Angelo Marmolejos.

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NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the Rhode Island Reporter. Readers are requested to notify the Opinion Analyst, Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 250 Benefit Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02903, at Telephone 222-3258 of any typographical or other formal errors in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is published.

Supreme Court No. 2008-103-C.A. (P1/07-1576A)

State v. Angelo Marmolejos.

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Present: Suttell, C.J., Goldberg, Flaherty, and Robinson, JJ.

OPINION Justice Goldberg, for the Court. This case came before the Supreme Court on January 27, 2010, pursuant to an order directing the parties to appear and show cause why the issues raised in this appeal should not summarily be decided. The defendant, Angelo Marmolejos (defendant), appeals from a Superior Court conviction of assault with a dangerous weapon and using a firearm while committing a violent crime. Because we are satisfied that cause has not been shown, we shall decide the appeal at this time. We affirm the convictions. At trial, defendant and the complainant offered very different accounts of the events that gave rise to this conviction. According to Jose Lespin (complainant or Lespin), a motor-vehicle repair transaction between defendant and himself was the genesis of this dispute. The complainant testified at trial that defendant had retained him to repair his automobile, with the expectation of payment. Although Lespin granted defendant some time in which to pay, he testified that defendant failed to do so and that he requested of defendant repeatedly that he settle the debt. On December 5, 2006,

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defendant called Lespin and asked him to come to defendant's home so that he could pay him. According to Lespin, when he arrived at approximately 10 p.m., he asked to use the bathroom; as he was leaving it, he saw defendant standing near him, holding a pillow. Almost immediately, he felt "something electrical." Realizing that he had been shot, Lespin sought to disarm defendant, and a struggle ensued. Although Lespin managed to point the gun away from himself, he testified that defendant fired another shot. Lespin managed to escape; he ran upstairs and asked the occupant of another apartment

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