Alums Kara Hoopis '05, Michelle Alves '03 and Shannon Signore '00 were all major players in the high-profile rape case against a former high-school sports standout.
From the PROVIDENCE JOURNAL: "Judge lashes out as rapist sentenced: Former high school athlete receives 60-year prison term" by Katie Mulvaney, Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE (August 8, 2012): Once heralded as a rising star athlete full of promise for seemingly overcoming odds stacked against him by abusive, drug-addicted parents, Jason Nickerson earned far different descriptors Tuesday as he awaited sentencing for the 2007 rape of a 16-year-old girl.
Sadistic, angry, aggressive, rapist were the words Superior Court Judge Judith Colenback Savage chose in sentencing Nickerson [...]
Savage said she was disturbed by Nickerson’s attitude toward the woman and by his comments in court Tuesday blaming her; his lawyers, Kara Hoopis [RWU Law '05] and Michelle Alves [RWU '00, RWU Law '03]; police; and the prosecutor, Shannon Signore [RWU Law '00], for the jury finding him guilty of sexual assault and assault with a dangerous weapon, his hands. Nickerson, who stands 6 feet 4 inches and sports a beard, said he would appeal.
Signore read a letter on the 21-year-old woman’s behalf. Obviously, something similar had happened to him and he should be disgusted by the person he allowed himself to become, she said. [...]
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