State v. Gerald D. Price, 68 A.3d 440

Police executed a search warrant at 62 Heath Street; firearms were found in a blue leather handbag in a closet.
Price was not present; his girlfriend Washington was charged in related narcotics/gun offenses.
Price was convicted by jury on one marijuana possession count and two cocaine-with-intent-to-deliver counts tied to firearms.
Trial focused on whether possession with intent to deliver while armed requires the firearm to be within Price’s reach.
Price argued the trial court misinterpreted § 11-47-3 and that the guns were not within his immediate control.
The court vacated the judgment and remanded for a new trial due to error in impeachment evidence, and other procedural concerns.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Interpretation of 'having available any firearm'	Price argues narrow reach is required.	State contends proper interpretation by trial court.	Waived on appeal; Rule 29 issue not preserved.
Impeachment with prior-crime/false allegations	Price asserts improper impeachment based on false/prejudicial prior-crime references.	State contends impeachment within rules and harmless	Vacate conviction due to improper impeachment evidence and prejudice.
Right to informed decision on pleading vs. trial	Price claims Rule 11 requires informed plea decisions; he was misinformed.	State argues no obligation to ensure awareness of plea outcome for trial decision.	Not reversible error on the plead decision issue; remand for new trial overall due to other errors.

State v. Tower, 984 A.2d 40 (R.I. 2009) (preservation of Rule 29(a) issues requires proper trial-stage objections)
State v. Grullon, 117 R.I. 682 (1977) (renewal of motions for judgment of acquittal required to preserve appeal)
State v. Gaspar, 982 A.2d 140 (R.I. 2009) (abuse of discretion in evidentiary rulings; standard review)
State v. Mohapatra, 880 A.2d 802 (R.I. 2005) (evidence law discretion; Rule 609 interpretation)
Christofaro, 70 R.I. 57 (1944) (improper use of arrests/charges to impeach credibility)
Foster v. Barbour, 613 F.2d 59 (4th Cir. 1980) (false evidence of prior crimes undermines due process)
State v. Sepe, 122 R.I. 560 (1980) (limits on credibility impeachment by arrests/charges)
State v. Gallagher, 654 A.2d 1206 (R.I. 1995) (unrelated prior crimes are prejudicial and inadmissible)
State v. Cardoza, 465 A.2d 200 (R.I. 1983) (relevance of prior crimes for impeachment)
State v. Crow, 871 A.2d 930 (R.I. 2005) (timeliness and specificity of objections for evidentiary review)
Christofaro, 70 R.I. 57 (1944) (prior arrests/charges as improper impeachment material)