Opinion
January 4, 1973.
PRESENT: Roberts, C.J., Paolino, Powers, Joslin and Kelleher. JJ.
APPEAL. Issue Decided for Appellant Below. Validity of Appeal of Appellant on Same Issue. Appeal to Supreme Court from denial by Superior Court of mandamus complaint seeking an order directing defendant to certify to Supreme Court the question of the constitutionality of an ordinance making "indecent intoxication" a crime was moot where, following conviction of plaintiff in District Court of the crime charged and appeal to Superior Court, his demurrer, based upon the constitutionality of the ordinance, was sustained and the complaint dismissed.
APPEAL from denial by Weisberger, J., of Superior Court, of mandamus complaint, heard and appeal denied and dismissed as moot.
Berberian Tanenbaum, Aram K. Berberian, for plaintiff.
Richard J. Israel, Attorney General, Donald P. Ryan, Assistant Attorney General. R. Raymond Greco, Special Assistant Attorney General, for defendant.
This appeal could be considered the epitome of frivolity. It seeks the review of the denial by the Superior Court of the plaintiff's mandamus complaint which sought an order directing the defendant, a justice of the District Court, to certify to this court the question of whether an ordinance of the city of Warwick making "indecent intoxication" a crime is constitutional. The certification was sought pursuant to the terms of G.L. 1956 (1969 Reenactment) § 12-22-10. The defendant refused to certify the question and found Ramsdell guilty of the indecent intoxication charge. The conviction was appealed to the Superior Court. There Ramsdell filed a demurrer to the complaint in which he made the same contentions regarding the ordinance's unconstitutionality as when he sought the certification order in the District Court. The demurrer was sustained in May, 1971. Later, in April, 1972, the plaintiff's motion to dismiss the complaint was granted. At that time his appeal from the denial of his mandamus complaint was pending in this court.
This section calls for certification whenever in a trial of a criminal cause the constitutionality of an act of the General Assembly is questioned.
Accordingly, the plaintiff's instant appeal is denied and dismissed on the grounds that it was rendered moot by the Superior Court's dismissal of the indecent intoxication complaint.