PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A Rhode Island state prosecutor was placed on unpaid depart for six months after she was captured on police physique digicam footage warning one of many officers who have been arresting her on a trespassing cost that he was “gonna regret it.”
Particular Assistant Legal professional Normal Devon Flanagan was given the punishment Monday. It stemmed from her Aug. 14 trespassing arrest outdoors of a restaurant in Newport, the state legal professional basic, Peter Neronha, stated Tuesday.
“We hold our attorneys to the highest personal and professional standards, and Ms. Flanagan plainly did not meet those standards here,” Neronha stated in a information launch.
Neronha met with the officers concerned in Flanagan’s arrest on Monday and apologized, stated Tim Rondeau, a spokesman for the legal professional basic’s workplace. Flanagan additionally despatched apology letters to the person officers, he stated.
Flanagan and a good friend have been arrested after they have been requested to go away the Clarke Prepare dinner Home and refused, in accordance with police.
The police footage reveals Flanagan asking an officer a number of instances to show off his physique digicam after which repeatedly saying “I’m an AG.”
It reveals the officers approaching somebody from the restaurant and asking if “they want them trespassed.” The individual clasps his arms and responds saying, “Trespass, yeah. Cuff ’em, please.”
When the officer says Flanagan and individuals who have been together with her are trespassing, she says “We’re not trespassing, you haven’t notified us that we’re trespassing.”
“What did I just say to you? You’re trespassing,” says the officer, who shouldn’t be recognized within the video.
“I’m an AG. I’m an AG,” Flanagan later says.
“Good for you,” the officer says.
Ultimately, Flanagan is put in a patrol automobile and says, “Buddy, you’re gonna regret this. You’re gonna regret it.”
In Rhode Island, a conviction for misdemeanor willful trespass is punishable by as much as a 12 months in jail, a superb of as much as $1,000, or each. It’s unclear whether or not, if convicted, Flanagan would nonetheless be capable of work within the legal professional basic’s workplace.
Flanagan’s legal professional, Kevin Hagan, didn’t instantly reply to an e mail looking for remark.
In his assertion asserting Flanagan was positioned on depart, Neronha stated he hopes she displays “on the seriousness of her conduct and makes corrective changes in her life.”
“She has a long road ahead of her, but I believe that in the long run, our worst moments can inspire us to become better people,” he stated.
In response to the legal professional basic’s workplace, Flanagan has labored for the state’s high authorized workplace for practically seven years and was assigned to the felony division’s appellate unit on the time of her arrest.
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