Rhode Island's Traffic Tribunal bench will have two new faces. Here's who is in the running.

Katie Mulvaney, The Providence Journal
·3 min read

PROVIDENCE – Interviews will take place this week for two magistrate openings on the Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal bench.

The magistrate salary range is $172,198 to $206,637, according to Lexi Kriss, a spokeswoman for the courts.

One magistrate position was created when state lawmakers last year increased the number of magistrates on the tribunal from seven to eight. The second position fills the seat left open by Magistrate Lillian M. Almeida's retirement.

A third magistrate position will open up later this month with the retirement of Magistrate Edward C. Parker March 31.

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Who is being considered for each seat?

The three-member committee that helps state Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul A. Suttell vet candidates will interview three contenders for the newly created magistrate position on March 22 at 3 p.m. at the tribunal. The interviews are open to the public. The members of the committee are Chief Traffic Tribunal Magistrate Domenic A. DiSandro; Magistrate Erika Kruse Weller; and defense lawyer Christopher S. Gontarz.

Special Assistant Attorney General Eric A. Batista; Special Assistant Attorney General Judy Davis, and Providence Police Major David A. Lapatin are being interviewed for this seat.

  • Batista earned a law degree from Roger Williams University School of Law in 2010 and has worked as a state prosecutor since 2011, according to his resume.

  • Davis earned a law degree at Roger Williams in 1998 and worked as a special assistant attorney general from 1999 to 2006, when she headed to MassMutual Financial Group, according to her LinkedIn profile. She worked in sales and marketing for a title insurer from 2014 to 2019 before returning to the attorney general’s office under Peter F. Neronha. Her work now focuses primarily on post-conviction matters.

  • Lapatin earned a law degree at Roger Williams University in 1999 and has worked his way up in the Providence Police Department since he joined the force in 1983. He has been a major overseeing criminal investigations since 2013 and has operated a private practice focusing on civil litigation since 2002, according to his resumé.

Interviews for the open seat will be conducted on March 23 at 3 p.m. at the tribunal and are also open to the public. Last May, members of the committee selected five candidates to interview and submitted the names to Suttell, but he didn’t put forward a nominee to the state Senate for approval before the General Assembly recessed for the summer.

Those being interviewed are:

  • Allison C. Abilheira, a criminal defense lawyer and 2013 Roger Williams Law graduate

  • Former state Rep. Norman L. Landroche, Jr., a municipal court judge in West Warwick and associate at Murphy & Fay

  • Frank R. Saccoccio, a private practitioner and assistant city solicitor in Pawtucket

  • Assistant Attorney General Mark J. Trovato, chief of the office's Washington County unit since 2011

  • Amanda Leigh Valentino, a former public defender who now works for the state Department of Revenue

  • Mark P. Welch, a general practice attorney focusing primarily in the areas of real estate, zoning and civil litigation

  • William J. Vescera, a solo practitioner in Johnston concentrating on residential and commercial real-estate transactions

More:Highly paid Rhode Island judges among those receiving $3,000 'retention' bonuses

Other changes to Rhode Island traffic law

State lawmakers increased the number of magistrates last year when they passed legislation to decriminalize and reduce the penalties for low-level driving offenses. In doing so, they transferred oversight of many of those cases from District Court to the Traffic Tribunal, though legislators did not provide funding for the new position.

Effective Jan. 1, the revised law makes it a civil, not a criminal, offense to drive up to three times without a license, or after a license has been suspended, revoked, or canceled. It reduces the penalties for the first, second and third offenses to $150, $250 and $350, respectively.

A fourth, or subsequent, offense would be a misdemeanor charge and offenders would face fines of $500 to $1,000 and up to a year in prison. Such cases would be heard in state District Court.

This story corrects an earlier error. Providence police Maj. David Lapatin began work in the Police Department in 1983 and received his law degree in 1999.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal magistrate seats open. Who might get the job