Trial to begin for cop charged with assault despite delays

PROVIDENCE (AP) — The trial for a Providence police sergeant charged with assault will begin in February despite the unsanctioned release of video footage from the arrest and an unsuccessful appeal by the officer to have the case dismissed as a result.

The three-day trial for Sgt. Joseph Hanley is scheduled to begin Feb. 10, the Providence Journal reported Thursday.

Prosecutors will call other officers to testify, as well as Rishod Gore, the 28-year-old man whom Hanley is accused of assaulting during an arrest in April while Gore was handcuffed.

Providence’s police civilian oversight board had voted against releasing the video evidence that showed the arrest, but its executive director at the time, José Batista, leaked the footage to media outlets. He was later fired by the board.

In October, an attorney for Hanley argued that the release of the footage denied his client due process rights and that a fair trial would be impossible. A district judge did not agree and scheduled the trial to begin in February.

Gore reached a settlement with the city, the newspaper reported, and the charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest brought against him were dropped in August.

1 dead, 1 hurt in head-on crash in Charlestown CHARLESTOWN (AP)

— One driver was killed and a second suffered moderate injuries in a head-on crash in Charlestown on Friday morning, police said.

The crash occurred on Route 91 at about 5:45 a.m., police said in a news release.

Responding officers found an SUV and pickup truck, both with heavy front-end damage “consistent with a head on collision,” according to police. The SUV had been traveling east and the pickup truck had been heading west, police said.

The drivers, both men, were trapped and had to be extricated by rescue crews. They were taken to the hospital where the SUV driver was pronounced dead.

Both were alone in their vehicles.

No names were released. The crash remains under investigation.