State v. Julio Morais

Justice Indeglia, for the Court.

After a bench trial in Providence County Superior Court, the trial justice found the defendant, Julio Morais (defendant), guilty of four counts of first-degree child molestation sexual assault. On appeal, the defendant argues that the trial justice erred, pursuant to Rule 23(a) of the Superior Court Rules of Criminal Procedure, when he accepted a jury-waiver form that the defendant had signed outside the presence of the trial justice; thus, the defendant contends that the trial justice lacked jurisdiction to conduct a bench trial. The defendant further contends…