State v. Musumeci

OPINION

FLANDERS, Justice.

In the middle of a criminal trial charging the defendant, Robert Musumeci (Musume-ci), with illegal possession of marijuana, a Superior Court justice denied Musumeci’s dismissal motion but granted his motion for a mistrial because of the state’s grossly negligent (albeit nondeliberate) failure to comply in a timely manner with its discovery obligations. Ten months later, a second trial justice dismissed the charges against Musu-meci for the same discovery violation that led to the earlier mistrial. The state’s appeal from that adverse judgment requires us to answer…