R.I. Supreme Court denies new trial for Derick Hazard

PROVIDENCE—Rhode Island’s highest court on Monday rejected the appeal of a man serving a life sentence for a 1996 murder, saying he failed to show that his lawyer had bungled the case.

Derick Hazard argued that his former lawyer did a poor job in his 1998 trial by failing to investigate his claim that he was in Ohio when David S. Andrews was killed in Providence. Several family members supported his claim.

Hazard, who has maintained his innocence, said in support of his alibi that his car was pulled over by a New Jersey state trooper prior to the killing.

But the state Supreme Court, in an opinion written by acting Chief Justice Maureen McKenna Goldberg, said it found the testimony of Hazard and his relatives “riddled with inconsistencies and mendacities.“

Download: R.I. Supreme Court Decision (pdf)

The court said Hazard did not give his lawyer any evidence to support his alibi that he was out of state, including receipts for food or gas bought on the way to Ohio.

His lawyer, Vincent Oddo, has said he did not investigate Hazard’s story because Hazard had not given necessary details, such as the city, state or highway where the traffic stop took place. He has said he did not know the traffic stop occurred in New Jersey until after the trial, when he read it in a newspaper.

The trooper has said he could not recall whether Hazard was in the car, but that a written warning was given to his brother, Kyle.

Oddo and Hazard’s current attorney, J. Richard Ratcliffe, did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment Monday.