Francis E. Lachappelle v. John Moran, Director, Department of Corrections

LEVIN H. CAMPBELL, Circuit Judge.

In February 1978, Francis LaChappelle was tried and convicted in Rhode Island Superior Court of assault with attempt to rape. He appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, claiming that the trial judge’s in camera questioning of his minor daughter, the complaining witness, violated his rights under the sixth and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution. After the Supreme Court of Rhode Island rejected these arguments, State v. LaChappelle, R.I., 424 A.2d 1039 (1981), LaChappelle petitioned the United States District Court for the District…