Grand Juries Spread Across RI

Grand Juries Spread Across RI

In the past few weeks, a number of sitting grand juries have been made public. Some have been leaked to the media and others have been announced by law enforcement.

Presently, three high profile grand juries have been reported.

One of the sitting grand juries was announced by Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha. Historically, both the Rhode Island Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney’s office in Rhode Island have consistently refused to confirm or deny the existence of sitting grand juries.

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Wyatt Incident -- and More

First, Neronha last month announced that a grand jury was sitting to investigate the Incident at the Wyatt Detention Center when officer Thomas Woodworth's vehicle hit some protestors as he was arriving for duty. Other correctional officers then used pepper spray on protestors during the August incident.

The public announcement of the existence of the grand jury by Neronha took some by surprise.

“Our office generally will not confirm the existence of or otherwise comment about ongoing investigations. There are exceptions when comments about or confirmation of an ongoing investigation may be necessary and we shift as needs arise,” wrote Kristy dosReis in an email to GoLocal on Neronha’s policy.

“Those exceptions include when the community needs to be reassured that the appropriate law enforcement agency is investigating a matter, or where release of information is necessary to protect the public safety,” she added.

Neronha’s office did not respond to questions about how the Wyatt Detention Center incident fell into the exception.

Previously, Rhode Island attorney generals have refused to acknowledge the existence of investigations or grand juries.

The U.S. Attorney's office routinely sends out this statement to every media request, "It is the policy of this office and the Department of Justice to neither confirm nor deny or offer comment on whether we are or are not investigating a matter."

This week, it was widely reported that a statewide grand jury was impaneled to investigate a political mailer in the 2016 campaign between Mattiello and Republican opponent Steve Frias.

“The Board of Elections resolved this issue for the campaign more than one year ago. We have no involvement in or knowledge of what was reported on earlier today,” said Patti Doyle a spokesperson for Speaker of the House Nick Mattiello’s campaign. She also serves as the spokeswoman for Twin River and other high profile clients.

Allegations are that Mattiello’s campaign violated campaign laws by illegally coordinating a third party mailer. The Rhode Island Republican Party filed the complaint in October of 2016.

In a statement to GoLocal, dosReis said, "I’m able to confirm the referral of that matter to this Office by the Board of Elections and that it has been reviewed by this Office. Upon taking office in January, Attorney General Neronha had that matter assigned to our Public Integrity Unit. Beyond that, I am not able to comment."

Now, a federal grand jury is looking into the controversial chiropractor Victor Pedro, according to subpoenas documents secured by WPRI. The state documents sought by federal investigators seem to focus on reimbursement requests filed by Pedro's company.

In June, Speaker of the House Nick Mattiello initially pushed for funding and then submitted an amendment to the budget to remove the funding for the controversial $1 million subsidy to Pedro, GoLocal reported.

Researchers from across Rhode Island questioned the science behind Pedro’s work and his qualifications.

"Cortical Integrative Therapy is an innovative treatment for brain-based disorders. It more accurately pinpoints and identifies the injured or under-performing areas of the brain. Non-invasive audio, visual, visual-motor, and proprioceptive activities are then used to repair brain pathways for more effective and longer-lasting outcomes," Pedro writes about his process.

Pedro‘s Cortical Integrative Therapy, had previously received approximately $2 million in state funding going back to 2004 under Governor Don Carcieri.

Pedro over the years has been a political donor -- and donated $6,100 over the past decade-plus to a range of politicians.