State v. Feole3/14/2000
The propriety of limiting a defense attorney's attempted cross-examination of two prosecution witnesses and the admission of hearsay evidence are the focus of this appeal. The defendant, John Feole (Feole), appeals from a judgment of conviction for extortion in violation of G.L. 1956 § 11-42-2 and usury in violation of G.L. 1956 §§ 6-26-3 and 6-26-6. Following a prebriefing conference, we ordered the parties to show cause why the appeal should not be resolved summarily. Because no cause has been shown, we proceed to do so.
During Feole's jury trial, he testified that he lent money to the victim, Francesco Rocchio (Rocchio), on three different occasions. According to Feole, this accumulation of debt started with a loan of $2,900 to help Rocchio pay his taxes, after which, Feole testified, he lent Rocchio another $1,500 to help him buy a piece of equipment for his wife's business. He said he thought this second loan would expedite the return of the original loan. After that, Feole testified, he lent Rocchio an additional $14,000 to invest in a nightclub. According to Feole, Rocchio never repaid any of these loans. He also testified that he threatened Rocchio with legal action, which in turn prompted Rocchio to call the police and to fabricate a charge of extortion against him. In defense to the extortion charge, Feole testified that he never threatened the victim or anyone in his family with physical harm. Moreover, he testified that he never asked Rocchio for any interest on these loans because they were old friends.
In contrast, Rocchio testified that even though he owed Feole only $4,100, he had paid him nearly $70,000 because Feole threatened to inflict bodily harm upon him and his family. He testified that he originally borrowed $3,800 from Feole to defray the cost of some machinery for his wife's jewelry business, and that this loan was supposed to cost him $300 in interest, for a total of $4,100. Rocchio further testified that Feole never specified any time period for him to repay the loan, but agreed that he could repay him in "a couple of weeks." Rocchio stated that he was prepared to pay Feole back after six weeks, but at that point Feole refused, telling him that $4,100 would not satisfy his boss. Rocchio testified that to satisfy Feole's boss he had to pay close to $2,000 in interest on top of the $4,100. He also testified that for each week he did not pay, Feole added $100 per $1,000 of the unpaid loan amount.
With the debt growing rapidly, Rocchio testified that he made partial payments to Feole on a regular basis. He asserted that he borrowed money from his brothers and his wife to pay off some of the debt. He also testified that he made payments from a workers' compensation settlement. According to Rocchio, he received $34,000 from the settlement and paid most of it to Feole in two payments of $5,000 and $27,000. Nevertheless, these payments still were not enough to satisfy Feole. As a result, Rocchio sold some property in Italy to his brother John for approximately $20,000, the proceeds of which he also gave to Feole. Despite this payoff, Rocchio testified, his original loan of $3,800 still was not considered satisfied.
Rocchio also testified that Feole eventually requested $150,000 from him, and this demand forced him to try to mortgage his house. However, he failed to get a loan from the bank to make this payment because he did not have enough collateral. According to Rocchio, this prompted threats of bodily harm from Feole. He said his only option at this point was to file a complaint against Feole with the police.
Feole vehemently denied Rocchio's accusations and testified that the $150,000 represented the total amount of mone
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