SERVING, WITH PRIDE
In Part II of a conversation with Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin, the AG recalls memorable on-the-job moments
PROVIDENCE — When Teo Vargas wrapped his arms around Peter F. Kilmartin, he was doing more than thanking the Attorney General and his team for finding justice for his 12-year-old daughter Aynis.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part II in a two-part conversation with Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin.
He was giving Kilmartin strength.
Young Aynis was at a graduation party in Providence on the evening of June 15, 2013, when members of the city’s “H-Block” gang drove together to the Hartford Park area, looking to retaliate against members of the Hartford Park gang for vandalizing a van and for the alleged murder of a friend of H-Block members.
Ricardo Vasquez drove the van into Hartford Park and parked behind a building across from the party. Branden Castro, encouraged by others in the van to “bang the party,” exited and fired a .22 caliber handgun into the crowd of people at the graduation party. Bullets flew and struck 12-year-old Aynis Vargas, killing her.
After one of the men involved in the senseless killing was sentenced in late 2014, Teo Vargas approached Kilmartin and hugged the Attorney General, offering an embrace that his daughter would never be able to.
Unforgettable “Those are moments you don’t forget,” Kilmartin said, as he choked back tears. “Those are the moments that make you smile when you come into work every day. In the worst situations, to provide a small bit of justice or large bit of justice … Every case is important and we do our damndest to give an effort to every case.”
It’s the moments like that, the human experiences, wherein the outgoing Attorney General finds the most pride in his eight years in office.
Beyond the wins and the losses in the courtroom, Kilmartin said he’s had one goal in mind from the moment he was sworn into office back in January 2011 – to build on the foundation of the office that was left for him by his predecessors, and to leave a foundation for Attorneys General after him.
“I took the foundation that I got, and I’m leaving a foundation that Peter Neronha will inherit, and shame on him if he doesn’t make changes or continue the improvements,” Kilmartin said of the AG-elect. “We have 20-plus IT projects in the pipeline. I’m not a believer in change for change’s sake, but I’m a believer in making improvements and leaving in a better situation than I found it.”
In addition to building on the foundation that was left for him following the tenure of former AG Patrick Lynch, Kilmartin said he’s proud that his office has used the “Google windfall dollars” and invested them back into the office – something he said serves as a benefit to taxpayers, as the state never could have afforded it.
The state in 2012 received $230 million stemming from an investigation that resulted in Google forfeiting $500 million the year prior to settle an investigation into its distribution of online ads from Canadian pharmacies illegally selling prescription drugs to American consumers, according to reports at the time from The Associated Press.
With those financial resources, Kilmartin’s office has been brought into the 21st century, with many visible and internal improvements. However, it has not been without controversy, as former State Rep. Patricia Morgan earlier this year accused the AG of covering up how his office spent its portion of the money. Change for the Better Another change that emanated out of Kilmartin’s eight years in office was the opening of a new customer service center in Cranston, where state and national background checks are made available. Kilmartin said by moving the nearly 300 daily background checks out of his Providence office and into a new dedicated location, it cleared up traffic, opened up nearby parking for South Main Street restaurants and shops, and has led to a much more positive response from the public.
“That’s not for this office, that’s for the public,” Kilmartin said. “We cut the ribbon on that on a Friday and that Monday, traffic in front of this building went down precipitously. I never realized how many cars were circling this area looking for a parking space … The public feedback I’ve gotten is that they may have to travel a little further, but the convenience is there.”
Win or loss, victory or defeat, Kilmartin says his office has been dogged in its pursuit of justice. He needs to look no further than the years-long case surrounding Woonsocket’s Raymond D. “Beaver” Tempest Jr. Last December, Tempest was convicted of the 1982 bludgeoning murder of Doreen C. Picard, but he walked out of Superior Court a free man in a position to continue asserting his innocence after entering an Alford plea to the state’s charge of second-degree murder.
Tempest had been on track for a new trial after Superior Court Judge Daniel Procaccini, in July 2015, threw out the 1992 jury verdict, which he determined was flawed by police and prosecutorial misconduct.
“The Tempest case took up a lot of time,” Kilmartin recalled. “We had one whole room dedicated for well over a year just to that case. When we made decision to retry the case on the facts and evidence before us … We were going to pursue it, we felt confident, but that was a time-intensive case with thousands of man hours put into it.”
Sound Advice
“I say this to new attorneys: you’re never going to win every case. Going into a case do we believe we can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt? If we don’t believe it, we’re not going to pursue the case,” he later said when asked how he handles disappointments. “If a case goes to a jury and decides we did not meet that standard, that’s what the system is designed to do. As long as whomever is prosecuting the case did everything in their power and ability, that’s what the system does.”
“You can’t have a regret, but what you can do is maybe use it as a teaching moment to say the jury may have looked at this or that, and keep that in mind for the next case. It only becomes a regret if you don’t use it moving forward,” he added.
With Kilmartin’s final days in office upon us, he’s preparing for the peaceful transition of power to his successor, the AG-elect Neronha.
“The beauty of the democracy is the peaceful transition of power. I knew if I was fortunate enough to be elected twice, I had an eight-year timeline. I don’t own this office, the people own this office. I’ll still get to see (his efforts) come to fruition because the next administration coming in, they may tweak it, but I’m comfortable in knowing we’re leaving a good foundation for them to build upon.”
Naturally, the question that comes up toward the end of any conversation with Kilmartin is what comes next. He’s been involved in politics since he was first elected to the General Assembly in 1991 and he says that going back to his days as a soda jerk or stocking shelves at a grocery store as a teenager, he’s been fortunate to have a job that he’s enjoyed and had a passion for.
“Now I’m at a stage in my life where I will not compromise that,” he said. “But I haven’t been out there beating down doors for whatever the next adventure is. Come January, I’ll start looking more seriously … Part of the reason I haven’t all-out pursued anything is I don’t want the distraction until I am done. It’s the nature of the work we do.”
Over his years in office, Kilmartin says the one true constant in his life has been his wife, Kristine.
“The fact of the matter is my wife is not necessarily the biggest fan of politics, of politicians, but I’m lucky I have a spouse where we can support each other with our own individual goals,” he said. “She has fully supported me in this office, she takes some of the shots more personally than I, but she has always been by my side holding my hand. And as one of my best friends said to me, ‘You’d be nothing without her.’ There’s a whole lot of truth to that. She probably wishes I’d fully retire, but for once I’m feeling young, I feel I have something to give.”
“We’ll see what the next chapter brings.”