State v. Cerda

OPINION

Justice SUTTELL, for the Court.

A fateful combination of pugnacity and racial animus resulted in the senseless beating and shooting death of sixteen-year-old Errol Clinton on July 31, 2005. The defendant, Danilo A. Cerda, who was not implicated in the shooting itself, was convicted by a jury of assaulting Errol Clinton with a dangerous weapon, to wit, his hands and feet. Contending that the jury’s verdict was against the weight of the evidence and failed to do substantial justice, the defendant asserts on appeal that the trial justice’s denial of his motion for a new trial constitutes…