R.I. Super. Ct. R. Crim. P. 3
The complaint is a written statement setting forth the offense charged and shall be certified by the Office of the Attorney General or the authorized law enforcement agency. A judicial officer of the District Court or an officer empowered to issue warrants against persons charged with committing criminal offenses shall require the complainant to swear to the facts of the complaint under oath. The complaint shall be in a form approved by the District Court. If the defendant is not in custody or before the court, the judicial officer or other officer shall examine under oath the complainant and any witnesses and shall require their statements be reduced to writing and be subscribed and sworn to by the persons making them.
R.I. Super. Ct. R. Crim. P. 3
1972 Notes
This rule, though similar to Federal Rule 3, differs significantly by describing the complaint as a statement "setting forth the offense" rather than as a statement of the "essential facts constituting the offense." This modification permits retention of the established Rhode Island practice of charging an offense by stating its common law or statutory name or common law or statutory definition, or by using a statutory short form. See G.L. 1956 (1969 Reenactment), §§ 12-12-6 and 12-12-7.
The second sentence of the rule permits a complaint to be made before any officer who is authorized to issue warrants of arrest. Under the General Laws this specifically includes judges of the District Court and justices of the peace who have been authorized to issue warrants. G.L. 1956 (1969 Reenactment), §§ 12-4-1, 12-6-1 and 12-10-2 (Supp.1970). In addition, complaints can be made before justices of the Supreme and Superior Courts who, in the exercise of their authority as conservators of the peace are authorized to issue warrants. G.L. 1956 (1969 Reenactment), § 8-3-6.
The concluding sentence, which is not contained in the federal rule, is fashioned upon Rule 3 of the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure. It is designed to assure the existence of a written record of the proceedings in the event a defendant subsequently challenges a search incident to an arrest under a warrant, claiming lack of probable cause to support issuance of the arrest warrant. Cf. Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964). This provision is similar to the requirements contained in G.L. 1956 (1969 Reenactment), §§ 12-4-1 and 12-6-1 (Supp.1970) except that the judge or justice of the peace before whom the complaint is made is not required himself "to reduce" to writing the statements of the complainant or his witnesses. Under the rule the burden of preparing these statements in written form is upon the person making the complaint. Whenever feasible the statements should be reduced to writing prior to appearing before a judicial officer.