Evidentiary Hearing Required for all First Post-Conviction Applicants Sentenced to Life Without Parole

The Rhode Island Supreme Court has found as a matter of first impression that applicants serving a Life Sentence without the possibility of parole that file an application for post-conviction relief are entitled to an evidentiary hearing because of the severity of the sentence.   The Court was specific to indicate that this is a right available from the date of the opinion going forward.  This would seem to frustrate any retroactive availability.  See opinion: Tassone v. State of Rhode Island, PM 004624