State v. Ashness

OPINION

BEVILACQUA, Chief Justice.

The defendants Richard Ashness and Christopher Cole were charged in a multi-count indictment with a series of offenses arising from an armed robbery of a jewelry store. A Superior Court jury found both the defendants guilty of one count of robbery, eight counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, and one count of committing a crime of violence while armed. The trial justice denied the defendants’ motions for a new trial, and they appealed.

On the evening of October 25, 1979, two men carrying guns and wearing ski masks robbed Cerel’s Jewelry Store in Pawtucket,…