State v. Smith

OPINION

MURRAY, Justice.

This is a pretrial appeal by the state arising out of a murder case. The state is before us challenging a decision of the trial justice to grant in part a motion to suppress in favor of Robert Smith (defendant), and to refuse to determine whether the state or the defendant has the burden of proof on the issue of insanity. In conjunction with this appeal and pursuant to a writ of certiorari, the defendant has petitioned this court to review the trial justice’s denial of a motion to bifurcate the trial on the issues of guilt and insanity. The contentions raised by the…